Clay died suddenly and before his time on July 17, 2011, at Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Fla., after courageously fighting Leukemia for the past year.
Born July 8, 1964, to Kenneth E. and Donna Carroll, Clay graduated with honors from Choctawhatchee High School in 1982 and Davidson in 1986 with a degree in psychology. Clay received a master’s degree in psychology at FSU in 1990. He attended law school at Southwestern University in California and spent a summer studying law at Oxford in England. He worked at a psychiatric hospital in California. In Florida he worked for Children and Families as a Family Builders Therapist, and as a behavior Modification Counselor with developmentally disabled adults. He also worked for the Council for Aging in Okaloosa County.
He loved being one with nature, starting backpacking at a very young age and enjoying the ocean all of his life. He was an avid athlete who never passed up a chance to work out, be it running, biking, snow skiing or lifting weights. He also enjoyed wrestling on both his high school and college teams. Clay will be greatly missed.
Clay now joins God’s heavenly embrace with his paternal grandparents, Kenneth and Gladys Carroll; his maternal grandparents, Charles and Anne McAllister; and his father, Kenneth E. Carroll Jr. He is survived by his mother, Donna Harper, stepfather, Joseph M. Harper Jr., son, Cole McCormick, sister, Allison Fierro, nephews, Dominick and Luke Fierro, his lifelong friend, Ruth Weems, and cousin, Karen Dopson and son, Kevan.
Clay was very committed to the work of “Stella’s Voice.” In lieu of flowers, donations to Destin United Methodist Church for Stella’s Voice are welcome. This is an organization that rescues teenage orphans who have been forced into the sex trade.
A celebration of Clay’s life will be held on Saturday, Aug. 6, at 11 a.m. at Destin United Methodist Church, 200 Beach Drive, Destin, Fla., with a reception following.