Joan Lay, age 88, of Clinton, TN, passed away Tuesday, May 28, 2024, after a short illness. She was preceded in death by her husband, Fred Lay, Sr; daughter, Stephanie Lyle; parents, Frank and Hanna Harvey; several brothers and sisters.

She is survived by her son, Fred Lay & wife Denise; grandson, Andrew Lay; brother-in-law, Bob Lyle; sister-in-law, Elizabeth Wilson & husband Gene; several nieces and nephews.

Joan was born in a small town in Cambridgeshire, England, where she grew up with three brothers and four sisters during WWII. She married Fred in 1956, and they were together for over sixty years.

For the first twenty-plus years of their marriage, Fred's military career took them to many assignments overseas and in the US. For the next forty years, Joan and Fred returned to Fred's native East Tennessee. (Fred was from

Huntsville, TN, in Scott County.) Using her BA from the University of

Arkansas and her MA from the University of Houston, Joan became an English teacher. Later, she became a potter and taught at the Appalachian Arts and Crafts Center in Clinton.

Joan and Fred were long-standing and joyful members of the Bethel Baptist Church. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to Sacred Ground Hospice House in Knoxville.

The family will receive friends from 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m., Thursday, June 6, 2024, at Holley Gamble Funeral Home, 621 S Charles G Seivers Blvd, in Clinton, TN. The burial will follow at 2:00 p.m. at Five Black Gums United Baptist Church in Huntsville, TN. The officiant will be Dr. Darryl Taylor of Bethel Baptist Church. Holley Gamble Funeral Home in Clinton is in charge of all arrangements.  holleygamble.com