Walter Ringel Clay

Walter Ringel Clay passed peacefully at his home in Spiceland on July 11, 2015. He was born August 15, 1932 in New Castle, Indiana to Lightburn and Della (Ringel) Clay.

Walter graduated from Spiceland High School in 1950 and attended Earlham College for two years. After a brief time at Chrysler he joined the United States Army. He married Mary Margaret Applegate on May 21, 1953 and lived in Washington, D.C. while on active duty, working at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in the Histology Lab. Upon returning to Indiana he worked at Empire Life Insurance Co., Interstate Finance, and Lane Finance. Employed at Chrysler in New Castle in 1965 as a Tool and Process Engineer, he worked in the forge and machine shop, retiring in 1991.

Walter served on the board of the South Henry School Corporation, the Spiceland Volunteer Fire Department, and was a member of the Spiceland Lion’s Club and an active member of Spiceland Friends Meeting.

Walter had many talents and wide-ranging interests. He was an engineer at heart, an improviser and innovator, and a craftsman. He appreciated words and books, often reciting poetry, and enjoyed music. He had a love for nature and felt most content when camping, fishing, cutting wood, tending his garden or simply mowing the lawn and made it his personal mission to preserve native spicebushes for which his hometown was named.

Family was very important to Walter and researching genealogy and discovering his family’s place in history excited him. But his fascination with science and wonder at the mysteries of life kept him always contemplating his place in the universe.

Walter loved his family deeply and will be greatly missed. His parents, his wife, and his sister, Helen Kingery, preceded him in death. He is survived by his two daughters, Carolyn Jane (Mark) Truax, Crawfordsville and Janet Sue (James) Putnam, Knightstown, four grandchildren, Darby (Joel) Chadokowski, Daniel (Jill) Truax, Mary (Daniel) Morrell, and Rachel Putnam, three great-grandchildren, Elijah and Ezra Truax and Henry Chodakowski, and his sister-in-law and dear friend Esther Applegate.

Services will be at 11:00 a.m. Friday, July 17, 2015 at Spiceland Friends Meeting with David Brock and Cathy Harris officiating. Burial will follow in Circle Grove Cemetery. Friends may call from 4-8 p.m. Thursday, July 16, 2015 at Hinsey-Brown Funeral Service in New Castle and one hour prior to the service at the church. Memorial contributions may be given to the Spiceland Friends Meeting, PO Box 27, Spiceland, IN 47385. Condolences and memories of Walter may be expressed at www.hinsey-brown.com .