Clyde Raymond “Ray” Clements

Clyde Raymond “Ray” Clements

1937 – 2022 

Clyde Ray Clements, beloved father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother and friend, passed away on Sunday, September 18, 2022 surrounded by family.

Ray was born on September 30, 1937 to Raymond J. Clements and Louie Neville Clements of Rigby, ID. Ray was the oldest of four children and spent his formative years in Rexburg, ID where his father worked for the Coca-Cola Company. In high school he was an avid athlete and participated in several sports, basketball being his favorite.

In 1957 Ray served as an LDS missionary in the Indian South Mission (Gallup, NM) and was one of two missionaries assigned to speak Navajo. Upon returning from his mission, he attended BYU where he received both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting. It was at BYU where he met and married Mary Fritzsche (Chicago, IL). The couple had four children, Kelley, Mark, Stacie, and Amy. He was a natural born leader and coach and spent many years coaching his son, Mark’s, athletic teams. He and Mary lived and raised their family in Pleasant Grove, UT. They were married for 25 years.

Early in his career Ray practiced accounting with one of the eight largest national accounting firms. He went on to serve as the deputy director of the development office for BYU, where he was the architect of their ultra-successful planned giving program. He later left his position at BYU to run Intermountain Gift Makers with his wife Mary, a company started out of their home. They bought out several other gift making companies and in time built a large warehouse on Geneva Road in Lindon. They lost the business in the recession of 1983 and were divorced a few years later. Ray then served as the director of development for Utah Technical College at Provo/Orem (now Utah Valley University) and the executive director of the UTC Foundation. It was during his time there that he met Lana Lovicy Anderson.

In 1986, he and Lana were married and together they formed the Clements Group, a fundraising consulting firm that specialized in training college leaders and volunteers on how to conduct capital campaigns. He was passionate about the colleges and communities he worked with and had a lasting impact on their programs.

After the loss of his wife Lana, he was introduced to Margy Andersen who had also recently lost her husband. They became good friends and were married in 2008. During the next 14 years they cherished the opportunity to serve together in their ward, on a mission to the Philippines, and in the temple. They also loved spending time with their families. 

In his later years, Ray was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, which impacted his mobility, but not his optimistic outlook. He was a devoted BYU fan, never missing a chance to cheer on his beloved Cougars. His daughters took special delight in buying him all forms of BYU apparel.

He is survived by his wife Margy Andersen Clements, his siblings Louis Clements (Diane), Colleen Ferguson (Joe), Anne Reid (Brent), his three daughters, Kelley Giles (Geret) – Pleasant Grove, UT, Stacie Lindsey (Bryan) – Lehi, UT and Amy Pollock (Rick) – Stansbury Park, UT and his daughter-in-law Marianne Clements Reynolds – Prescott, AZ. He had 14 grandchildren and 6 great grandchildren whom he loved deeply. He is also survived by Margy’s children Rachel, Stin, Nathan, Matt, Markus, Zach and their spouses and children whom he loved as his own. He was preceded in death by his parents and his beloved son Mark Raymond Clements (Marianne).

Funeral services will be held on Friday, September 23, 2022, at 11:00 am in the Warenski Funeral Home Chapel, located at 1776 North 900 East, American Fork, Utah. Family and friends are invited to attend a viewing from 9:30-10:30 am prior to services at the funeral home.

We are grateful to Yarrow Hospice for their guidance, support and tender care.

In lieu of flowers, Ray wished to have donations made to the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation at cholangiocarcinoma.org/rayclements This foundation was dear to his heart as in 2007 he lost his son, Mark, to this rare form of cancer.