Eddie Grace Clayton

Eddie Grace was born on July 29, 1923 in Lueders, Texas, the only daughter of William Urban Coughran and Mabel Irene (Head) Coughran. Her father was a Methodist minister, and she was sister to four brothers. Her childhood and younger years were spent in Sisterdale, Texas, shouldering responsibilities for bottling the milk at the family’s commercial dairy farm, managing domestic chores and elder care for a string of live-in relatives, and helping to parent her two younger brothers, Joe and Dick. Hard economic times caused her parents to move several times, finally settling in McAllen, Texas, where her family and brother Bill started the beloved Coughran Cafeteria & Steak Room. Eddie Grace graduated from McAllen high school in 1940. Despite her many responsibilities, Eddie Grace was a spirited young woman, who loved to go with other young people on daytrips to the beach and go dancing in towns over the border. She kept her dance card full and enjoyed keeping all the boys guessing where her interests were.

In 1949, Eddie Grace married her great love Leon Clayton in Medina, TX. Shortly thereafter they relocated to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico where Leon worked for the U.S. Government’s Aftosa Commission and Eddie Grace fell in love with the town and worked hard to acclimate her young children. As a ranch wife, she spent many hours processing Leon’s hunted game, filling the freezer and handling many of the ranch chores. In 1951 they returned to Medina, TX.

In 1957 they settled in Booth, Texas, where she worked in the wholesale florist industry. She had three children: Burns, Jim, and Ann, to whom she was a stern but loving and involved mother throughout their lives. Her mother’s concern for her son Burns serving in Vietnam, and later son Jim battling cancer, as well as all her other worries, she took to her Lord as a woman of faithful prayer.

When Leon passed away in 1981, Eddie Grace began a new phase of her life. She started a late-life career as a florist and business owner when she purchased the Marble Falls Flower and Gift Shop. Through the many following years as a florist, she became deeply immersed in the community and lives of the people of Marble Falls, grieving and celebrating alongside them in their life events. She sold her business in 1992 and began workings alongside her daughter and granddaughter at Burnet Flowers. Proof of Eddie’s legacy came at her 100th birthday party, when many former customers, neighbors and friends came to Burnet to visit and celebrate her!

Eddie Grace spent many of her years caring for her mother and other family members as well as being a guiding presence for her many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and others. She was attentively cared for in her elder years by her daughter Ann, with whom she lived, and by her granddaughters Renee Riddell, Randi Reifel (and husband Beau), and Rachel Holcomb (and husband Michael), and much enjoyed watching her great-grandchildren grow to adulthood. The greatest joys of her last two years were the frequent visits from great-great-grandbaby, Zamarah.

Eddie Grace was an adventurer at heart: She jumped at the opportunity to visit her brother Joe stationed in Europe and even went to volunteer at Yellowstone at age 79. Though mostly tied down by a lifetime of responsibility, she was an avid reader and lifelong learner. She loved to read medical journals and keep up with news and politics. She was also an artist, both in flowers, and in oils and charcoal. She believed everyone should be growing and improving, and was always eager to share her opinions, advice, and faith in Jesus. She was tough and stubborn, and wise, and much loved.

Eddie Grace was preceded in death by her husband, Leon Clayton, her parents, her brothers William Jr, (Bill), Robert (Bob), Joe, and Richard (Dick), sister-in-law Ronnie Coughran and Jeany Coughran, her sons Edward (Burns) Clayton and James (Jim) Clayton, daughters-in-law Carolyn Hunter and Judy Clayton, and son-in-law Pat Riddell. She is survived by her daughters Ann Riddell of Burnet and Kathleen Bryan of New Braunfels, her sisters-in-law Shirley Coughran and Janice Coughran, and many grandchildren, great grandchildren, nephews, nieces and their extended families.

Funeral arrangements are in the care of Clements-Wilcox Funeral Home in Burnet. Visitation will be held at 1:00pm Wednesday September 10th, 2025 followed by a funeral service at 2:00pm and interment at Post Mountain Cemetery in Burnet. Pallbearers are Beau Reifel, Michael Holcomb, Avery Holcomb, Halsey Riddell, Joe Pat Clayton, Owen Jenschke, Greg Coughran, Todd Clayton. Honorary Pallbearers are Aidan Holcomb, Eddie Snider, Ryan Palm, Ryan Tenscher, Jason Coughran, Phillip Coughran, Brett Coughran, and Lynn Barnes. Memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital or a Parkinson’s Research Organization of your choice.