Clayton "Clay" Wells, age 82, of Aurora, passed away on Friday, May 26, 2017, at the Rose Medical Center in Denver.
Memorial services will be held at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, June 6, 2017 at Newcomer Funeral Home, 190 Potomac St., Aurora, Colorado.
Clay was born in Denver, Colorado, July 17, 1934, the son of Howard and Bertha (Koester) Wells. With the exception of a few days at birth, he lived in Aurora, Colorado, his entire life. He attended grade school at what became Crawford Elementary and high school at Aurora High School.
After many jobs in the metro area, Clay followed his life long dream and opened and operated a Texaco service station at 11th and Yosemite in Aurora. Later moving his business and operating at 6th and Havana as an Amoco dealer for many years. After the company closed the location, he moved to Holly and Evans in Denver, then over to Littleton Blvd and Windermere in Littleton still operating Amoco stations. In 1992, he said goodbye to Amoco and the service station business and closed out his working career as a tour bus driver. He truly enjoyed his time on the road until his retirement in 1998.
Clay held dear his immediate and extended family, and his friendships, old and new. He enjoyed working on and riding or driving anything with engines and wheels. He drove boats, flew airplanes, rode motorcycles, drove motor homes, and older model cars. In his years of retirement he maintained and enjoyed his small fleet of collector cars. He was a member of the Early Ford V-8 Club.
Clay was preceded in death by his parents, Howard and Bertha (Koester) Wells, an older brother Keith Wells, and his two sisters, Mildred Wedow and Fern Haught. Survivors include his wife, Cathy; his daughters Leanne Wells and Shannon Liberatore; and his sons Hutch Johnson of Moorhead, MN and Brandon Johnson (Danielle) of Saline, MI; nine grandchildren, Tanner, Taylor, Tryce and Talon Johnson of Moorhead, MN, Marit, Luke and Quin Johnson of Saline, MI, and Dina and Colt Liberatore; his nieces Paula Bookout (Bill) of Lake Havasu City, AZ, Cindy Haught-Dambroski (Steve) of Bennett, CO, Vicky Pierson (Tony) of LaQuinta, CA, and Leslie Lawson (Dave) of Aurora, CO; and numerous great nieces and nephews, and cousins.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to The National Museum of World War II Aviation at http://www.worldwariiaviation.org/.
To share a memory of Clay or leave a special condolence message for his family, please visit the guestbook below.