Christopher Perry Clay
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Christopher Perry Clay, 46, of Independence, Mo passed away on 09/09/2025 at St. Luke’s Hospice House, from colorectal cancer. Chris is survived by his wife and partner of 26 years Anna Clay, their son Connor Clay, his mother Carol Vinyard, his sister LeAnne Clay-Cross, brother-in-law Zach Cross and their two children Ryder Clay and Sloan Cross. He was preceded in death by his brother, Curtis Clay and stepfather, Raymond Vinyard.
Chris had a wonderful love of life, a never ending curiosity about everything. All it took was someone he loved being interested in something and he was doing a deep dive to learn all he could about it. His hobbies were extensive. He loved taking his K5 Jimmy out wheeling with all of his Jeep loving friends, to show that the full size life was the best life. He loved camping and fishing, almost as much as finding deals on equipment for them at garage sales and thrift stores. He enjoyed deer hunting with his friends and Connor, being up before the world was, sitting in the absolute quiet of nature, and then hanging around deer camp playing cards. He was a crafter, but always with a survival or functional slant. He didn’t make bracelets, he made survival bands, modified his hunting gear, leather working, Halloween costumes, custom 3D cards, and gifts for Anna when he’d pushed her last button and needed to make her smile. He had a great passion for anything mechanical, especially if it had wheels. There was nothing normal sized or standard about any of his vehicles, the majority of them he could pull right into a car show and fit right in. He thought it was totally normal to want to own and drive his own personal fire truck. He was the teller of bad jokes that weren’t funny but he found hilarious and when Chris laughed, everyone laughed. There isn’t a song that he didn’t butcher the lyrics to with his own made up version, and they were so good sometimes you’d end up singing his version instead of the original.
He was a builder and a fixer. He always had the ability to see the potential in something, the promise of what could be, he could turn a house into a home. He had no problem coming in and finding a disaster of someone else’s doing and turning it into something solid and everlasting. He would tell you that you have to see what it could be instead of what it currently was.
A design engineer by trade, he always said he made fake stuff look real. Doing everything from the Royal’s Hall of Fame, the first device that fed energy back to KC’s electrical grid in the form of a clock tower, making a mock Blue Angel to hang in the halls of Anapolis, crashing trains into the side of truck stops, figuring out how to fasten modern signage to Wrigley Field’s hundred year old infrasturce, suspending prop planes above customers in Scheels, and engineering the world’s largest 3D printed statue. As fascinating, intense, and ever-changing his innovative design work was, when he made the move to Katalyst several years ago he found his true work family. The support that Tate, Katie, Jason, and the entire Katalyst team provided Chris and his family through his battle with cancer was life changing. Our gratitude can never be fully expressed. Their kindness and compassion brought light into the darkest time of our lives.
The visitation will be held at Mount Moriah,10507 Holmes Rd, Kansas City, Mo 64131, on Thursday October 30th from 6-8pm. Funeral services will be held at 11am, Saturday, November 1st at Mount Moriah, followed by a car show. Everyone is welcome to bring their car to be displayed and admired. If you love your car, Chris would have loved to have seen it.
“A heart is not judged by how much you love; but by how much you are loved by others.”
Prayers and thoughts for peace and comfort at this difficult time.
Anna and Connor, we are so very sorry for your loss. Just from the little time we knew him, he was an awesome guy and dad. We will be keeping you in our hearts and thoughts.
Chris had a contagious laugh. He was one of the happiest people I’ve ever met and from what I’ve just read here, am absolute genius. The would won’t be the same without him. I’m sorry for the loss his family and friends are experiencing and I hope they find some peace knowing how much he loved them.
An amazing summation of the life of a man who didn’t fit into anyone’s corner. Chris was the epitome of being his his own. He could fix anything, whether he was in his own front yard or1,0000miles in the desert. Chris was larger than life and always ready to help the little guy. I love you Chris and you will be remembered as a great man!💟
My condolences to Carol and the entire family. I didn’t know Chris, except hearing stories from Carol. I know what it’s like to loose a child it isn’t easy but we must go on.
Prayers and condolences to the family
Chris was one of my Nephews. His Laugh was infectious and everyone couldn’t help but laugh.Loved playing Poker with him. I got to see where he worked and it was Amazing. He was truly a Jack of all Trades .He was so full of life. He will surely be missed
Chris was everything his Mom, Aunt Susy and of course Mary said that he was and much more. He touched hearts in a magical way, with his friendships, laughter, creative arts, building, rebuilding, and love of cars/trucks. I was not fortunate enough to meet him personally but the stories told by his Mom and Aunts spoke of his zest for life. As his family and friends move forward with their lives Chris will continue to be there as they share his stories and brings his laughter into their hearts. To young and way to soon, but a life well led and many hearts touched. My condolences to all that love him.
What a wonderful life he lived, so talented and loving. My heart breaks for his family especially for his mom. She raised a son that any mom would be proud of. She planted his strong roots to take into the world and shares with his family.
Praying for strength for the family especially his wife and children.,
I am a friend of his mother, in California. I learned to care about and prayer for Chris through his mother and family here. Thank you for this amazing write up and allowing me to be a little part of one of God’s special gifts to humanity. Please keep telling the world about Chris.
I’m so glad to have had him as a second dad in my life. He really did so much for me and my mom. I don’t understand how god could take someone who cared so much about everyone in life. I’m glad he got to live it to the fullest and i was apart of it. I couldn’t ask for a funnier and more loving uncle. I’ll always be thinking about you guys. – Love Rydee
In the early days of Dimensional Innovations, we were transitioning from manual to digital fabrication. We asked Chris, a talented fabricator to move to our engineering team. He used his fabrication knowledge after learning a very complicated software program to become one of our top engineers.
Always a team player, he contributed in so many ways to our growth.
RIP Chris. My condolences to your family and friends.
I had the privilege of working with Chris for many years at DI. Always so calm with a wonderful smile. He was also so patient answering my many technical questions as we worked together to hire engineers for the team. Chris was a wonderful human and will be greatly missed. My prayers go out to his family.
Reading this is making me smile. Chris was such a great friend and was so fun to be around. His giant smile and the best laugh ever. He will be missed SO much.