Hello, my name is LaShaye. I am creating this fundraiser to help my grandmother Theresa give her husband, my step-grandfather, though he is my grandfather, a beautiful funeral and memorial. His name was William Odell Clayton (Jack is what everyone called him). He was more than just my step-grandfather; he was my grandfather and more of my father. He raised me since I was in diapers. I owe him everything, especially what he asked before he passed: a beautiful funeral and memorial and his family to get together one last time in honor of my grandpa.
My grandfather was a respectable man. He was a veteran for our country and fought in the Vietnam War, taking a bomb to his back and making it. He didn’t get what he deserved in our country; he dealt with homelessness, he had his own place. He lost some and he won some. He has seen it all, the good and the bad. But he always had a great smile, a wonderful unforgettable laugh, and a funny sense of humor I will never forget. You’d never believe he had been through what he has been through.
My grandfather passed away last month, leaving my grandma on her own with no way to give him the nice funeral or memorial he deserves. It was unexpected when he passed. My grandparents had just settled into their new home and didn’t have anything saved up; they were living hotel to motel until they got accepted into a facility, leaving them with the bare minimum. I’m thankful it was in a home instead of a hotel when he passed. But it left my grandma to have to donate his body for science, leading to him being cremated. He never wanted to be cremated, but my grandmother had no other choice. She didn’t know what to do, and we all live in different states and were unable to get to her in time.
We would like to give my grandpa a great service for such a wonderful soul he had. This money will go to help my grandma bury his ashes with his father and mother, help my grandpa’s family get together and do a beautiful memorial for him, and whatever is left over will go to my grandma.