Clayton E. Fox passed away peacefully, surrounded by family and friends, in Mountain View, California on February 4th, 2018.
Clay was born in Rockford, Illinois, and grew up in Marengo, where he attended high school. He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1955 and subsequently joined the Airforce.
Later, he settled in California, where he worked as a computer software engineer and lived most of his life.
He also worked as a computer consultant in Munich, Germany, for 6 years, where he became fluent in German and confirmed his deep appreciation for all things German.
He remained a lifelong student of the language and attended classes until early 2017. Clay was also actively attending a memoir writing class, which brought him great joy.
One of Clay's great passions was genealogy. Over the past two decades, he spent countless hours
searching for documents establishing and/or confirming family connections for his own, as well as other people's families. He was also hosting a DNA site for that purpose.
When he was not studying, preparing essays for his class, or surfing the internet in pursuit of long lost family ties, he enjoyed watching TV from his favorite chair - most often with a cat or two on his lap.
Clay will be sorely missed by all who loved him for the wonderful human being he was: kind, compassionate, generous, forgiving towards all creatures.
There was no better man.

A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Friday, February 16, 2018 at Anderson Funeral and Cremation Services, 218 W. Hurlbut Ave, Belvidere, IL 61008 with Rev. Monty Fox officiating. Burial in Highland Garden of Memories. Memorials may be made to Pets in Need, 871 Fifth Ave, Redwood City, CA 94063. To light a candle or share a condolence, please visit www.AndersonFCS.com.