In Memoriam: Suzanne Clay

Published on Monday, October 23, 2023

The Medical Center extends its sympathy to the family of a former staff member in appreciation for the loved one’s contributions to the academic health sciences center.

Suzanne McRae Clay

Suzanne McRae Clay, who devoted five decades of her life to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, rising from a secretarial position to become the beloved director of business operations in the Department of Medicine, died on Oct. 13, 2023. She was 78.

Hired, originally, two days after Christmas 1965, Clay worked with every chair and interim chair of medicine except the very first – from the time she joined the Medical Center until her final retirement more than 50 years later, from Dr. Harper Hellems to interim leader, Dr. Dan Jones.

In a 2020 departmental newsletter articled titled “The Clay that Broke the Mold,” several of those chairs, along with faculty and staff, expressed what she had meant to them, referring to her as mentor, confidant, mediator, friend, queen and “greatest of all time.”

“She was always the first person I called when I needed advice or just reassuring words that I was on the right path,” Dr. Joe Files, professor emeritus of medicine, said last week.

“Her dedication to the Department of Medicine was a reflection of her passion and love of UMMC, and she mentored many physicians, division directors, vice chancellors and employees other than me,” said Files, who served as interim chair from 1996 to 1997.

“The response almost all of the time when unsolvable problems came up was ‘call Suzanne Clay.’”

Although her official duties were strategic planning, program development, faculty recruitment and resource management, Clay believed that her most important responsibility was determining each department leader’s vision and finding the wherewithal to see it through.

“She not only knew what the department’s needs were, in every subspecialty and program, but also what was needed to take it to the next level,” said Dr. Rick deShazo, Billy S. Guyton Distinguished Professor and professor emeritus of medicine and pediatrics, who served as department chair from 1997 to 2010.

“She realized we had an opportunity not only to serve the needs of the Medical Center, but also to reach out to serve the needs of more Mississippians and help the department become nationally known,” said deShazo, currently an adjunct professor of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

“That would be necessary so we could recruit and retain trainees and faculty in a state that was desperate for doctors.”

Clay once described her work as “stressful” at times, adding “but the benefit offsetting the stress was working with so many brilliant, talented and wonderful people.”

Among those who often deferred to her was Dr. Bryan Barksdale, professor of medicine-cardiology. “She was the rock of the Department of Medicine for years – the most diligent, organized person I have ever known,” he said.

“When we really needed advice on something or to get something done, we most often went to Suzanne. On top of that, she had the kindest and warmest personality. She was the best of the best, and I am so saddened that I had not seen her in several years.”

Barksdale joined UMMC years after the arrival of Clay, who came on board when there were 30 or so faculty members and staff in the department. She saw the faculty number grow to more than 200, and she saw much more than that. In the beginning, and for several years, she strode the Medical Center campus during a less-teeming, less-formal time, when, as she remembered it, everyone ate in the cafeteria and everyone had a parking place.

Years later, she would also recall the time when cigarette sparks ignited a faculty member’s white coat; when, as a joke, a dead mouse appeared in the campus mail; and when departmental get-togethers included pig roasts, golf tournaments, deep-sea fishing expeditions and epic Christmas parties.

Many of her other fondest experiences were of a more elevated sort – meeting the legendary physiologist, Dr. Arthur Guyton; watching the department prosper and progress; and relishing the camaraderie and companionship of a department led by accomplished chairs, including those in interim roles: “heroes,” she called them.

“[All] rose to the occasion to give leadership and stability to the department in difficult times,” she wrote.

Clay, too, was a leader. She was on the board of directors of what is now the Mississippi Federal Credit Union and also served, at various times, as treasurer, vice president and president, overseeing construction of the on-campus building housing the credit union today.

Outside of work, she spent 20 years as a member of the board of directors for Bethany Christian Services of Mississippi, and served for a year on the board of Lifeline Children’s Services in Jackson: organizations that support vulnerable children and families.

She also found time to become an instrument-rated pilot and pursued flying with William “Bill” Clay Jr., her husband and high school sweetheart.

Clay retired in January 2009, but was rehired about two months later; she then worked for more than nine years on special projects before retiring for good in June 2018.

“When you work full time, the margins in your life are small and crowded,” she wrote. “After you retire, the margins are blank and waiting to be filled with things you enjoy – things that keep you physically, mentally and spiritually healthy and with people you love.”

She filled the void left by retirement with more moments devoted to her children, grandchildren and friends; her church and church family; beach trips; and, on one occasion, a South African safari. She called the latter “the trip of a lifetime,” and the same thing could be said of her career.

“We miss her smile and friendship, as do so many others,” deShazo said. “She was a blessing to all she knew. May she rest in peace, until we meet again.”