Tensil Tennant Clayton

Tensil Tennant Clayton of Wilson, NC, passed away peacefully at her daughter’s home in Raleigh on March 8, 2025, following a brief battle with an aggressive cancer. Born on March 12, 1943, in Fairmont, West Virginia, she was the youngest of nine children of Lester and Reta Sayre Tennant.

She is survived by her beloved husband of nearly 60 years, George Clayton of Wilson; her daughters, Nancy Clayton (Casey Champion) of Raleigh, NC, and Josephine Clayton of Wilson, NC; her son, Brian Clayton of Corpus Christi, TX; and her cherished grandchildren, Cameron Champion of Birmingham, AL, and Katherine Champion of Raleigh, NC.

A devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, Tensil was the heart of her family. She has always been there to support her husband and her children. After she became a grandmother, she found immense pleasure and pride in following their life journeys, never missing a sporting event, dance or music performance or milestone.

Tensil was a lifelong educator and scholar. She graduated from Barrackville High School and earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Social Studies from Fairmont State University in 1965, where she was a Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority member and dated George, then the college football quarterback. She was a stay at home mother with her children but along the way, pursued graduate studies at Southern Illinois University and SUNY-Brockport. She later earned a Master’s in Educational Administration from East Carolina University in 1992. She taught English for many years in Wilson County schools and later was a school administrator in Wilson, Halifax, and Martin County schools. She was also a Family-to-Family Trainer with the National Alliance on Mental Illness. She continued tutoring and substitute teaching well into retirement. She loved teaching children to swim every summer at the Wilson Recreation Center pool.

She was a lover of the arts and a lifelong learner. She was an avid reader and a longtime member of her book club WRAP (Women Reading and Parlaying) and Friends of the Wilson Public Library. She enjoyed calligraphy, genealogy, birdwatching, going to art museums, listening to live music concerts, and travel, exploring many European destinations and more off the beaten path ones like New Zealand and Iceland.

Tensil and George joined the First Baptist Church in Wilson shortly after they moved to Wilson in 1980. She was active in the Thomas Hadley Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) for 32 years and a member of North Carolina Questors.

She was a great lover of English springer spaniels, particularly her beloved Riley.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, March 15, 2025, at 2pm at First Baptist Church, 311 Nash Street NW, Wilson, NC, with Rev. Chris Thomas, D. Min. presiding. Visitation will follow in the church fellowship hall.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Tensil’s name to First Baptist Church, 311 Nash Street NW, Wilson NC 27893 or to the Thomas Hadley Chapter of DAR, ℅ Mrs Caroline Anderson, Treasurer, 3909 Redbay Lane N, Wilson NC 27896.

Arrangements by Joyner Funeral Home and Crematory in Wilson, North Carolina.

Tensil’s kindness, intellect, and unwavering love for her family and community will be deeply missed.