Tom Clay crossed the river one last time the morning of August 26, 2024. After a long fight with cancer, Tom passed away peacefully in his home, in his sleep, his daughter at his side.
Tom was born in 1942 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Ruth and George Clay. Described as a bon vivant and scamp, Tom lived life to the fullest on Maxwell Street in East Grand Rapids with his four brothers, one sister, a plethora of pets (including Coonie the Racoon), and his cousins down the street. He described his childhood as feral and unconventional, having been given a very loose rein and little structure by his parents. He learned to be self-reliant, cooking canned goods and hotdogs and doing his own laundry, often wearing damp clothes to school.

As an adolescent, Tom aspired to be an inventor, stating so in his high school autobiography. He was in his element while building and working with his hands. He interned with the Balloon Ascension Man of Ramona Park and was a bit of a mad scientist-inventor-artist. He was known to make small hot air balloons by joining plastic drycleaning bags with a sewing machine and flying teddy bears around East Grand Rapids and later flying ducks, chickens, and a cat around the Clay family farm. Tom made homemade explosives with sodium nitrate from the pharmacy and earned Boy Scout badges for raising honeybees and rabbits, many of which escaped to level the gardens of neighbors within minutes. He loved woodworking, planning theatrical events and circuses, and brainstorming practical jokes. Tom excelled in sports including football, track, and soccer. He mastered handstands and tightrope
walking. He enjoyed adventures like hitchhiking around the U.S. in his early twenties and building a log cabin from scratch in the woods. He traveled in a plane full of banana cargo to help his parents set up a shrimping operation in Guanaja, Honduras, and helped navigate a small boat from Maine to New York Harbor where the ice caused Tom, George, Lucy, and the captain to abandon ship.

Tom attended multiple academic programs and colleges all over the U.S. and loved learning. At St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, he developed an interest in filmmaking, theater, and philosophy. He created interpersonal dramas and scandals with the Oxford Club and helped start a melodrama themed dinner theater in Cerrillos at the Tiffany Saloon. Tom also built an old-fashioned, large format box camera with a developing and printing system inside, which he used to take tourists' photos on the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe. He assembled props such as serapes and sombreros and insisted that the customers didn't smile for the photos because he wanted everything to look authentic to the early days of photography.

Tom left Santa Fe when he was drafted into the Vietnam War in the late 1960's. Army aptitude tests indicated Tom's knack for electronics, so he was sent to work in microwave technology for two years on the East Coast. While in the service, he spent his free time doing such things as taking concertina lessons in New York City and honing his skills in carpentry and horse-buggy driving with an Amish community he befriended. During his time in the service, Tom married his East Grand Rapids High School sweetheart, Lucy.

Tom earned a graduate degree from the London Film School in 1973. Following graduation, he taught at LFS for a year and made lifelong international friends while learning 35-millimeter film production. After three years in London, Tom and Lucy returned to the U.S. to give birth to Amy. In Grand Rapids, Tom built a successful film company, Motion Picture Makers, where he specialized in commercials and industrial films. He thrived in this environment using his vast skill set to tell corporate stories, coach actors, craft miniature models, sculpt latex puppets, weld camera contraptions, build sets, and fully engage in his lifelong passion of storytelling through film production. He had an international cadre of workers over the years, many of whom became lifelong friends. They share his stories of working all night, using red paint for ketchup, blowing things up in the latex puppets' chemistry lab, sewing cherries on trees in Puerto Rico for a vitamin film, training a live wolverine to run on camera (using sizzling bacon), building a Fretter Appliance Godzilla monster made of working VCRs, stereos, and other appliances to stomp through a miniature metropolis, and more. His clients included Wolverine Worldwide, Herman Miller, RTE Ireland, PBS, Hayworth, Amway, Ford, Dow Chemical, Big Boy, Steelcase, and many others.

The pinnacle of his film career was directing the full-length feature film "Postmark Paradise," starring Tantoo Cardinal. The film won awards at numerous film festivals, was released on DVD, and even landed on the shelves of Best Buy. Attending film festivals where he held "court" in the ticket lines was also a passion in his last thirty years. He was a regular at Sundance and the Traverse City Film Festival. In 1986, Tom purchased his beloved home on the Thornapple River, having lusted after it for years. He rebuilt and redesigned the entire house, making it his maker's workshop - even sculpting and soldering the metal chandeliers himself. Tom said "the crossing," which happened in all sorts of weather, day and night, was his favorite part of living on the river. He was often accompanied by one of his loyal golden retrievers, Charlie (2013-2024) and Mr. Magoo (1993-2006), who was celebrated for his appearances driving a tiny car in the Cascade July 4 parade and greeting people at Fountain Street Church. Fountain Street Church was integral in Tom's life for close to seventy years. He met many lifelong friends and found joy and inspiration in the work of Duncan Littlefair. He enjoyed music, book clubs, poetry and world religion classes, and conversation at the church.

Tom was project-oriented even in the end of his life. Knowing that he would die soon and with his intellect and cerebral powers extremely intact, he set to work managing artistic, construction, and mechanical engineering projects from his bedside. Tom was thrilled about the prospect of voting for the first woman of color for President, and we are sad he will miss the election. He expressed gratitude and appreciation to the many friends and family members who made it possible for him to spend his last months at home. Tom often said, "You grab the joy in life wherever you can find it," and "Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story." Tom leaves behind many friends and family members including Marmalade the Cat.

A celebration of life will take place November 2 at 11am at Fountain Street Church with a reception following. In lieu of flowers, Tom would encourage you to get out and vote in November and find the joy in life where you can. Tom also loved Fountain Street Church, animals, and nature, so interested friends may consider a donation to Fountain Street Church or a local environmental or animal charity such as the Land Conservancy of West Michigan, C-SNIP, or The Humane Society of West Michigan.