Mrs. Jowean Garrard Clay peacefully departed this life Thursday, February 7, 2013.

She was born to the late James Madison Garrard and Cecil Pennington Garrard on October 2, 1940. Jowean was the fifteenth of sixteen children and the baby girl, which prompted everyone to call her (Jo Baby). She graduated from Winchester High School in 1959. She found her greatest joy in caring for her husband, three children, eight grandchildren, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews, and friends. She was an avid reader, collector of dolls and elephants. Her calling was as caregiver and confidant to all in need. She was the heart and soul of our family and instilled in us the importance of truth and honesty. A woman of profound faith and spirituality, and because of those and many other wonderful attributes she shaped our lives by her examples. She professed a hope in Christ at the age of thirteen in the spring of 1954 and was baptized at Broadway Baptist Church by Reverend Henry E. Baker in Winchester, Kentucky. Later on in life she united with Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church. She continued her Christian journey at St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church and was active in the choir and hospitality committee for as long as her health permitted. She married her high school sweetheart, Mr. Abe Clay Sr. on January 15, 1960 and celebrated their fifty-third anniversary in January of this year. To the union four (4) children were born. She and Abe relocated to Austin, Texas with IBM, Inc. in 1970 and established their home.

Her baby boy (Albert), parents, thirteen brothers and sisters, preceded her in death. She leaves to cherish her loving memories her husband Abe Sr., her daughter, Alisha (Kenneth); two sons, Abe Jr., and Anthony Sr. (Kimi); eight grandchildren, Kenny, Amery, Miles, Anthony Jr., Alyssa Jowean, Andrew, Madison and Harrison; two sisters; Nancy Brown of Winchester Kentucky and Lenore Hairston of Morristown, New Jersey; special friends: Bill and Penny McCann, Crystal Powell, Sharon Robinson, Dolores Donahue and a host of aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

Visitation today, 1pm-7pm at King-Tears Mortuary. Home Going Celebration Thursday, 1pm at St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church, Pflugerville. Interment Cook Walden Capital Parks. Services entrusted to A Life Celebration by Franklin, Taylor, TX.

Published in Austin American-Statesman on February 13, 2013