William Wayne Clayborne's Obituary
William Wayne Clayborne, age 85 of Memphis, passed away June 13, 2023 at St. Catherine’s Village in Madison, MS. He was born in Tupelo, MS on October 22, 1937 to Hessie and Bruett Clayborne and his family moved to Memphis two years later. He was a lifelong Memphian.
Wayne attended Christine Elementary School and Humes Junior High. He graduated from Central High School in 1956 where he played basketball, tennis and was on the track team. He went on to Christian Brothers University on a basketball scholarship where he graduated in 1961 with a bachelor’s degree in marketing. He was an All-Catholic All American 1957-1961 and was inducted into the CBU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014.
After graduating, he married his wife of 62 years, Joan LoBianco, on October 21, 1961 at Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. They met at a Christian Brothers University dance and never stopped dancing. He and Joan loved to dance and were members of the Memphis Bop Club. They had two daughters, Gina and Michelle.
Wayne started his banking career at Household Finance in 1961, then worked as a loan officer for First Tennessee and Union Planters, later becoming Vice President of Home Federal. He was also Deputy Director of Housing and Community Development for the City of Memphis in the 1990’s.
He served 25 years in the Tennessee Air National Guard Reserve and retired in 1985 as a Lieutenant Colonel, 164th TAG Memphis.
It is apropos that Wayne passed on in the days between two of tennis’ biggest tournaments, the French Open and Wimbledon. He was an incredibly talented amateur tennis player and played in tournaments across the Southeast for decades. He won numerous tournaments in both singles, doubles and mixed doubles matches. He watched every tournament ever televised and was a lifelong fan of the sport. He also followed University of Memphis Tigers Football and Basketball as well Christian Brothers University Basketball throughout his life.
Wayne was a devoted, caring husband and father. He would climb up on the roof on Christmas Eve and stomp around to make his girls think Santa and his reindeer had landed! He had playful nicknames for everyone; Joan was ‘Rosanna Rosannadanna’ Gina and Michelle were both ‘ole bean’, his mother-in-law was ‘honey’ and there were many others. It is funny then that no one ever gave him a nickname until his grandsons came along. They christened him Aquaman after he spent a vacation with them at the beach in Destin. That name stuck for the entirety of his life. He was a positive and encouraging presence and he will be greatly missed, but never forgotten.
Wayne is preceded in death by his father, Bruett Clayborne and his mother, Hessie (Owens) Clayborne-Olive.
Wayne is survived by his devoted wife Joan, his two daughters Gina (Lester) Diamond, Michelle Clayborne (Siavoche); two grandsons, Andrew (Shelby) Diamond and Eric Diamond; one great grandson, Harrison Rowdy Diamond; two sisters Bettye (Larry) Johnson and Debbie (Lionel) Rowland and one nephew, Todd Clayborne Rowland.
A celebration of Wayne’s life will be held on Monday, June 19th at Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery at 5668 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN. Visitation is scheduled for 1:00 pm. The memorial service begins at 2:00 pm with a burial immediately following. Reception afterwards.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the charity of your choice.
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