Eileen O’Beirne Clayton

Lieutenant Colonel Eileen O’Beirne Clayton passed away peacefully at St. Catherine’s Village on November 10, 2022, surrounded by her loving sisters. 

Eileen was born August 20, 1934 in White Plains, New York to Marcella and Michael O’Beirne. Her family moved to Natchez, Mississippi in 1937. After graduating from Cathedral High School in Natchez, Eileen attended and graduated from Hotel Dieu School of Nursing in New Orleans, Louisiana. She then joined the Navy Nurse Corp and was stationed in New York, Portsmouth, Long Beach, Beaufort and Yokosuka, Japan. During the Vietnam War Eileen was assigned to the Naval Hospital in Yokosuka. Eileen received Honorable Discharge from the Navy and shortly thereafter joined the Army National Guard Unit in Jackson, Mississippi. She was then transferred to Norfolk, Virginia where she entered the Army Reserve in Richmond, Virginia. 

She played high school basketball and truly loved watching Old Dominion and Virginia Tech. She was a devoted Catholic and exemplified her love for Christ. 

Eileen is preceded in death by her husband, Harvey Yancy Clayton, parents, Marcella and Michael O’Beirne, sisters, Mary O’Beirne Williams and Alice O’Beirne, and her brothers, Daniel J. O’Beirne, James F. O’Beirne and Thomas J. O’Beirne. 

Eileen is survived by her daughter, Kelly Clayton Justice (Tim) of Virginia Beach, Virginia and her two precious granddaughters, Reagan O’Beirne and Caroline Faye, her brother, Michael J. O’Beirne (Ingeborg) of Tubingen, Germany, and sisters, Margaret O’Beirne Williams of Jackson, Mississippi, Patsy O’Beirne Rogers and Noreen O’Beirne Bozeman both of Madison, Mississippi, along with sisters-in-law, Jean A. O’Beirne of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Pokey Jones O’Beirne and Mary Jane Gaudet, both of Natchez, Mississippi. Eileen is also survived by many loving nieces and nephews. 

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Madison, Mississippi on November 16, 2022. A private burial will be held in Virginia at a later date. 

Please consider making a donation to St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church or St. Catherine’s Village both in Madison, Mississippi.