Loren Bywaters Clay II, 71, Village Mills

Loren Bywaters Clay II, 71, of Village Mills, Texas, passed away on March 23, 2023. Born in Chicago, Illinois, on December 11, 1951, he was the son of Loren B. Clay and Anne Clay Schulze.

Loren Clay was raised in the Memorial area of Houston, Texas and graduated from Rice University in 1974. He began his career as a steel purchaser at Tex Tube and ultimately retired from Northwest Pipe in 1999.

He and his wife, Max, retired to Wildwood in 2001. There he began a lawn service business, which he enjoyed more than all of the years in his professional life. Loren will be remembered by all who knew him as a man who always put others first.

He was fun loving, kind hearted, witty, and he oddly could identify every bird by the call they made. He had a high-pitched cackle which made you want to laugh (especially if he was poking you in the side at the same time), told many (bad) jokes which he read from Reader's Digest and had SO many ‘Loren-isms’ that made your eyes roll and your heart smile. He was a lover of board and card games, spent hours patiently teaching friends and their children skiing and wakeboarding, and was happy to be the boat driver for endless friends and family around and around Lake Kimball in Wildwood.

In addition, Loren thoroughly enjoyed participating in the 4th of July fireworks show in Wildwood for over 30 years. He will be fondly remembered for his knowledge of all thing’s sports, for his long-winded stories and trivia to anyone who would listen, and for his love of wearing funny T-shirts (without embarrassment).

Overall, he was an amazing husband, father, papa and friend who will be so dearly missed. He will be remembered for calling everyone Buddy, affectionately addressing his daughter as Princess and Little One, and lovingly nicknaming his adored wife, Max, of almost 43 years, Mickey, whom he was the only one allowed to call her that name. He was special in so many ways and there will never be another person quite like him.

To quote his own words in a paper we found from when he was in high school: Eternity A man lives only once in life, But his deeds and works live on for posterity.

He is preceded in death by his parents.

Those left to cherish Loren’s memory include his loving wife, Maxine Clay; daughter, Catrina Clay Bubier and husband Scott, of Denver, Colorado; grandchildren, Kelsey Bubier and Kyle Bubier; and his sister, Shana Alldredge and partner Michael Austill, of Scottsdale, Arizona; along with numerous other loving family and friends.