Obituary of Ingrid B. Clayton

Ingrid Beatrice Clayton was born January 26, 1953 in Frederick, MD to Reginald Davis and Amy Willis. She lived her early years in Frederick. When Ingrid was 8 years old, she moved to Crisfield, MD.

Ingrid attended Carter G. Woodson School, which was an all black school. When she entered the 9th grade, she was sent to Crisfield High School. She was 1 of 3 black students  to attend the school before integration. She suffered racism and taunts. But she persevered and became well liked by her classmates. Ingrid attended Shiloh United Methodist Church growing up. She sang on the church choir.

While still in high school, Ingrid moved back to Frederick, MD and graduated from Thomas Johnson High School. After high school she attended Woodbridge School For Secretaries, where she received a certificate as a Medical Secretary.

Ingrid seemed to have found her career when she working for Accurate Optical as an optician in Salisbury, MD. Ingrid was happy to be near her dear sister, Joyce, who she was very close to. Ingrid had a love for arts and music. In Salisbury, she was in the local community theater. She played the part of Mary Magdalene in their production of Godspell. Drawing was also one of her passions.

After working there several years, she took a job as an optician with Dr. Alton Williams of Williams and Demello in Wilmington, DE. In Wilmington, she also attended Barbizon School Of Modeling. She did modeling assignments in Delaware, New York and New Jersey.

After living in Delaware for a number of years, her life was about to change. Elder Robert Clayton arrived in Delaware from Texas to do some work at DuPont. The optical office she worked in was not far from the DuPont building Elder Clayton worked in. They eventually met. Elder Clayton told her he was a COGIC preacher and she said "maybe if I hear you preach, I might get saved". He told her she didn't have to wait. So, in her living room, they prayed and she believed God and got saved. Elder Clayton called Missionary Willa Greene to give a testimony of what God had done. Ingrid soon began attending Mt. Calvary COGIC where Elder Clayton attended. As time went by, they eventually united in holy matrimony. Bishop Joe Hunter performed the marriage ceremony. To this union was born a daughter, Ayana. She was Ingrid's greatest joy. She loved being a mother and wife to her family.

Eventually, Elder Clayton was appointed Pastor of Mt. Calvary and Superintendent of the Southern District. Ingrid became the First Lady and worked in Sunday School where she taught the primary class. She often would sing the sermonic solo before the Sunday morning message.

Ingrid also did some substitute teaching and was hired fulltime to be over the "Timeout" Room at Gunning Bedford Middle School. The administrators wondered what she was doing in the timeout room, because it seemed that some students tried to get in trouble so they could go to "timeout". One little girl student gave her a  note once and said "you so purdy".

Ingrid eventually went back to her optician work and worked for Simon Eye until her sickness. She had customers who followed her around. If they came into Simon Eye and she was off, they would say "we'll come back another day". She won awards for her customer service.

Ingrid peacefully transitioned  on January 4,2019. She leaves to cherish her memory her husband, Supt. Robert Clayton, daughter Ayana Clayton, sisters Joyce  Taylor (Gary) of Salisbury, MD, Regina Harris (Murray) of Frederick, Md, Josephine Tilghman (Vincent) Tacoma,Washington, a brother Jeffery Willis (Meme) of Southern California, father Reginald Davis of Salisbury, MD, sister-in-law JoAnn Clayton Iglehart of Baton Rouge, La, mother-in-law Missionary Vada Clayton of Waco, Texas, brother-in-law Willie Clayton of Waco, Texas , nieces, nephews, cousins, and a host of relatives, friends and church family.