Obituary for Clayton David "Clay" Blundell
Clayton David Blundell (Clay) was born in Austin, Texas on April 24, 1969 and passed away on March 7, 2023 in Katy, Texas, at the age of 53. He was the only child of Mary Jean Bland Blundell and John Clayton Blundell. Clayton is predeceased by both his parents, and both sets of grandparents. He is survived by his son, Peyton Blundell, two aunts, one uncle, a number of cousins, and friends.
He was very close to his Grandma Bland and Grandaddy Bland and often spent time with them in Edinburg. He loved going exploring by the railroad tracks, looking for rocks for his grandma’s collection, and finding and playing with the little horned toads which were abundant at that time. He always named them, but the name was always the same: Jason 1, Jason 2, Jason 3, etc. He loved being read to and once asked his grandaddy who seemed to know so much about dinosaurs because of what he was reading to Clay, “Grandaddy were you alive back then?” He and his grandaddy also spent many hours working on his coin collection. The love between Clay and his grandma was extreme. She often read Bible stories and Psalms to him and shared her faith with him. She prayed for him every day and always thought of him as her “Piggypie,” the nickname she gave him as a child.
Clayton was very close to all of his mother’s family and enjoyed frequent trips, not only to Edinburg, but also to Houston, and especially Nixon where he played with his cousins. As a child he participated in a number of team sports and was even blessed to be able to attend the Longhorn Baseball School when he was nine years old. He also enjoyed building model cars and BMX bike racing.
Both of his parents were educators, and Clayton excelled in school, with a strong interest in history and a love for reading. One year his history fair project on blacksmithing, including a display of his great-grandfather Bland’s blacksmithing tools won district honors. While in school he earned many awards for his academic excellence. He graduated from David Crockett High School in Austin in 1987.
Clay was very intelligent and able to converse on many subjects. He made friends very easily no matter where he was. He loved his hometown of Austin, was an avid Texas Longhorn fan and a supporter of the Dallas Cowboys.
He studied at Texas State University and years later was accepted into an entrepreneurship program through the Hankamer School of Business of Baylor University. He excelled in the difficult program, graduating 6th in a class of 100.
Clayton worked for a number of years at Sam’s Professional Installation in Austin and then at D-Tech Mechanical as an HVAC Technician.
He loved music and attended many live concerts. Clay and his mom shared the memorable experience of attending one of Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Picnic Concerts in Luckenbach, Texas.
Clayton had one son, Peyton James Blundell, born in Austin, Texas on October 20, 2002.
In October of 2014 Clayton was in a devastating auto accident that left him paralyzed. In spite of the many difficulties that are part of the life of a paraplegic, he fought hard to survive and maintain a meaningful life.
After many months in the hospital and rehab, he returned to live with his mom. She took care of him along with a variety of additional caregivers in the early months, but God blessed him when in October of 2015, Anita Gilbert became his caregiver. She spent many hours with him for six and a half years, and the two became very good friends. Clayton knew how to cook, and would give Anita instructions on how to cook some of his favorite meals. He loved being outside as much as possible, and Anita would sometimes help him transfer to his motorized wheelchair so that he could grill steaks on their patio.
Clayton lost his mom in April of 2022, and his life was never the same. He was in poor health the rest of his life and spent much of his time in hospitals. He was loved and will be missed.
He was very close to his Grandma Bland and Grandaddy Bland and often spent time with them in Edinburg. He loved going exploring by the railroad tracks, looking for rocks for his grandma’s collection, and finding and playing with the little horned toads which were abundant at that time. He always named them, but the name was always the same: Jason 1, Jason 2, Jason 3, etc. He loved being read to and once asked his grandaddy who seemed to know so much about dinosaurs because of what he was reading to Clay, “Grandaddy were you alive back then?” He and his grandaddy also spent many hours working on his coin collection. The love between Clay and his grandma was extreme. She often read Bible stories and Psalms to him and shared her faith with him. She prayed for him every day and always thought of him as her “Piggypie,” the nickname she gave him as a child.
Clayton was very close to all of his mother’s family and enjoyed frequent trips, not only to Edinburg, but also to Houston, and especially Nixon where he played with his cousins. As a child he participated in a number of team sports and was even blessed to be able to attend the Longhorn Baseball School when he was nine years old. He also enjoyed building model cars and BMX bike racing.
Both of his parents were educators, and Clayton excelled in school, with a strong interest in history and a love for reading. One year his history fair project on blacksmithing, including a display of his great-grandfather Bland’s blacksmithing tools won district honors. While in school he earned many awards for his academic excellence. He graduated from David Crockett High School in Austin in 1987.
Clay was very intelligent and able to converse on many subjects. He made friends very easily no matter where he was. He loved his hometown of Austin, was an avid Texas Longhorn fan and a supporter of the Dallas Cowboys.
He studied at Texas State University and years later was accepted into an entrepreneurship program through the Hankamer School of Business of Baylor University. He excelled in the difficult program, graduating 6th in a class of 100.
Clayton worked for a number of years at Sam’s Professional Installation in Austin and then at D-Tech Mechanical as an HVAC Technician.
He loved music and attended many live concerts. Clay and his mom shared the memorable experience of attending one of Willie Nelson’s Fourth of July Picnic Concerts in Luckenbach, Texas.
Clayton had one son, Peyton James Blundell, born in Austin, Texas on October 20, 2002.
In October of 2014 Clayton was in a devastating auto accident that left him paralyzed. In spite of the many difficulties that are part of the life of a paraplegic, he fought hard to survive and maintain a meaningful life.
After many months in the hospital and rehab, he returned to live with his mom. She took care of him along with a variety of additional caregivers in the early months, but God blessed him when in October of 2015, Anita Gilbert became his caregiver. She spent many hours with him for six and a half years, and the two became very good friends. Clayton knew how to cook, and would give Anita instructions on how to cook some of his favorite meals. He loved being outside as much as possible, and Anita would sometimes help him transfer to his motorized wheelchair so that he could grill steaks on their patio.
Clayton lost his mom in April of 2022, and his life was never the same. He was in poor health the rest of his life and spent much of his time in hospitals. He was loved and will be missed.