Clara S. Minton

Clara Mae Smith Minton, 101, left her earthly home on July 18, 2013, to celebrate her everlasting life in Heaven with her beloved husband of 62 years, Nelson Minton.

Born to Reddy Rutherford Dock Smith and Addie Fleniken Smith in Baywood, Louisiana, Mrs. Minton accepted Christ as her Savior at the age of twelve. She loved the Lord, and she and her husband were committed Christians and faithful members of Trinity Baptist Church of Lake Charles, where she served as church hostess for twelve years and was also a second grade Sunday School teacher, GA and Training Union teacher for over forty-five years, and where he was the only life deacon in the church.

Mrs. Minton was a nurse at East Louisiana State Hospital in Jackson, Louisiana, where she met her fellow employee, Nelson Minton, and on May 15, 1937, they were married. They moved to Lake Charles in 1945 and together they owned and operated Sanitary Bakery for thirty-two years. Her hobbies were her flower gardens and her greenhouse, and she loved being outdoors and traveling with friends, Jimmy and Pat Smith.

She is survived by one son, Byron Keith Minton of Lake Charles; one daughter, Beverly Jean Callaway and husband George of Boise, Idaho; one sister, Alice Lee Woest of New Roads, Louisiana; two grandsons, Eric Warren and wife Lori and their children, Lea and Kyle of Orlando, Florida and Greg Warren and wife Kim and their twin sons, Nicholas and Calvin of Boise, Idaho; and numerous nephews and nieces.

Family and friends will celebrate Mrs. Minton's life at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, July 23, 2013, at Johnson Funeral Home. Dr. Arthur Rockett will officiate. Interment will be at Graceland Cemetery. Visitation will be on Tuesday from 1p.m. until service time.

Memorial donations in Mrs. Minton's memory may be made to Lake Charles Bible Church, Camp Pearl Fund, 1920 East McNeese Street, Lake Charles, LA 70607.

Memorial donations in Mrs. Minton's memory may be made to Lake Charles Bible Church, Camp Pearl Fund, 1920 East McNeese Street, Lake Charles, LA 70607.