Remembering Robert Clayton

MARION COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF)- Long time tow truck driver for Monteagle Wrecker, Robert Clayton died Tuesday night after being struck on the side of the road on I-24 east in Marion County while working.

Saturday, friends, family and even coworkers celebrated Clayton’s life during his funeral.

At Jasper Memorial Funer Home, the community gathered for the funeral of Robert Clayton. A man that made an impact at home and road on the road.

“Robert was an employee was an employee that you could call at 2:30 in the morning” said owner of Monteagle Wrecker Service Rodney Kilgore. “If it’s 2:30 in the morning you can call him he’ll answer the phone ‘hello sunshine’. It takes a special person to get up at two or three o’clock in the morning to be that happy to go out and help somebody.”

“He was my favorite little brother” said Robert Clayton’s sister, Barbara Clayton-Cooper. “He was my only little brother. He was always sweet. Great all around guy.”

“I’ve heard nothing but good things about my father for the last two or three days” said Robert Clayton’s Daughter Christina Clayton. “Some of it’s from people who didn’t even know him. I’ve seen some people he just towed off one time. My dad was the kind of person that would give you the shirt off his back even if it was the last one he had because that’s just who he was as a person.”

“Good for a laugh. Easy going. Fun loving. Love people. He really loved people. He never met a stranger. He liked helping people. He had a big heart” said Clayton-Cooper.

The family and company he worked for wants to send a message to drivers on the road.

“All these tow truck people, police officers, first responders -their lives are at risk every single day. People don’t get over no more -they need to. You don’t ever know when you’re a first responder, you might not ever come home” said Kilgore.