Patricia Ann (Specht) Clay, known to friends as "Patti," passed away peacefully on March 17, 2025, at the age of 94.

Patti was born on August 11, 1930, in St. Louis, Missouri. She spent the first four months of her life at St. Anne's Maternity Hospital in the baby ward. As the story goes, her future mother, Elsie Specht, was passing through St. Louis by train from Evansville, Indiana, in route to Minneapolis, Minnesota. She had a layover in St. Louis and went to visit her friend, retired nun Sister Paula. Sister Paula took her to St. Anne's, where they toured the baby ward. When passing by Patti smiled at Elsie and Elsie asked Sister Paula if she could adopt the baby-and ended up taking her home. She telegraphed her husband, Clarence Specht, telling him she was bringing home a four-month-old baby girl and to have the nursery ready for her arrival.

Patti lived with her parents in Minneapolis, but due to the Great Depression, her father lost his job at a local university. The family moved to Evansville, Indiana. Patti described her childhood as happy and surrounded by family and friends. She attended Memorial High School and played the piano for the orchestra.

After high school, she attended Mercy College but was called back home after her father suffered a stroke. She went to night school to learn typing, and a neighbor helped her secure a job with Sun Oil Company, where she met her husband, Denny Clay, who was a geologist for Sun Oil. They married on July 2, 1955, and embarked on a life that took them across the world.

After living in Evansville for two and a half years, Denny was transferred to Maracaibo, Venezuela. Over the years, they were transferred six more times, living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Maracaibo, Venezuela (where they welcomed their daughter, Julie); Buenos Aires, Argentina; London, England; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Dallas, Texas, before finally settling in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Along the way, Patti made lifelong friends and had the opportunity to travel extensively while living overseas.

She is preceded in death by her parents and her husband, James D. Clay, Jr. ("Denny"). She is survived by her daughter, Julie Clay Huber; son-in-law, Jim Huber; and her five grandchildren, Hailey, Allie, Katie, Jake, and Joe Huber.

Patti was a wonderful homemaker, wife, mother, grandmother, and friend. She will be greatly missed.

A funeral Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 25th, at the Parish of Christ the King in Tulsa, Oklahoma.



Fitzgerald Ivy Chapel, 918-585-1151