Leah V. Clay Obituary (1945 - 2017)

Leah was born in Los Angeles on June 12th, 1945 to Leora and Ernest Vining. She graduated from UCLA in 1970. After college, Leah became a world traveler. She traveled thru Europe and middle eastern countries and worked for a year in England in the late 60s. Leah was married to Dan Clay in the early 1970's, and during those early years, she also worked at UCLA. Leah was delighted when her daughter, Minna, was born in 1980. Leah traveled to China with her 5 year old daughter to teach English as a second language. Later, in the early 90's, Leah also went to Taiwan, to again teach English. During those years, Leah and Minna traveled all around Asia together. They were very close. They moved to Stockton in 1991 after living many years in China and Taiwan while Leah taught in local colleges. Leah continued to teach until she retired in 2013. In her final years, Leah fought breast cancer courageously. Her family and friends spent many hours gathering with Leah, and enjoyed Leah's humorous personality and company until October 28th, 2017. As one of our family well said, while this is a sad occasion, this is our opportunity to celebrate Leah's life. Leah's life has enriched and rewarded us all. Leah was a gentle person with her mother's and grandmother's will to persevere no matter the odds. Leah was compassionate with others and was always counting her blessings and seeing the silver lining in life. What a wonderful legacy. And she has left us, Minna, et al! Leah, we love you. We will live our life to emanate your role model character traits, and we do this in honor of you. We will always remember you, from the bottom of our hearts~ Leah Clay's legacy is carried out by her love ones. To name a few, Leah is survived by, her husband Dan Clay of San Francisco; Daughter Minna Chou, her husband Jason, Granddaughter Arabelle; and Grandson Jonathan of Rancho Cordova; Sister Blanche Bettinger of Santa Cruz; Nephews Greg Bettinger of Santa Cruz, Jay Bettinger of Los Angeles, and Brian Bettinger of New Jersey.