The Milan News-Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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Past Tense
Symons led schools for 3 decades
By Martha Churchill, Special Writer
PUBLISHED: January 4, 2007
"How do you spell frog?" the teacher asked.
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The little boy stuttered. "F, R," he blurted out.
He thought a moment. "F, R," he hesitated.
Suddenly, a girl sitting behind him jabbed him in the ribs with her finger. "Oh, gee!" the boy exclaimed, clutching his side.
"Right!" said the teacher.
That's an example of the soft humor you might expect from Clayton Symons, who served as superintendent of the Milan Area School District for almost 30 years, and has an elementary school named after him on Platt Road.
Born Oct. 16, 1925, in Detroit, Symons enjoyed the lifestyle made possible by his father's work in a factory. When he was a young child, his family left Detroit and moved to Champion in the Upper Peninsula. Both of his parents had grown up in Champion, so it was natural for the family to go back to their hometown.
As a student, Symons played the cornet in the band and participated in sports. He graduated from Champion High School in 1942 and went on to the University of Michigan. He had to cut his education short due to the military draft, so he worked in a factory shortly before he was inducted into the Navy in 1943.
While serving in the Navy, Symons was assigned to a factory in Charleston, W.Va., making radio equipment to guide bombs. He took time out June 19, 1945, to marry C. Jean Decaire. They knew each other because she graduated from Ishpeming High School, near Champion, and they had attended the same church while growing up.
Symons completed his military duty in 1946 and obtained his higher education at Marquette University, earning a degree in mathematics. His wife worked in a bakery to put him through school.
Symons started working as a teacher in Onaway, located on the top northern tip of the Lower Peninsula. Symons was immediately moved to the principal's office.
"They saw the administrator in him," his wife said.
The principal's job soon led to a superintendent's position, working his way up from smaller districts to larger ones. Symons taught in classrooms, filling in where needed, for just about every class along the way. Coaching kids was another favorite activity for him.
In 1964, Symons left the Covert School District in southwestern Michigan to lead the Milan Area School District. Milan had just consolidated with numerous rural school districts, so elementary school students attended larger schools rather than one- or two-room country schools.
Symons raised his family in a home on Miller Street, just around the corner from his superintendent's office.
By the time he retired in 1993, Symons was extremely popular at the school district. He and his wife raised five children. James, born in 1946; Bill, born in 1949; Mary, born in 1955; Michael, born in 1958; and Patty, born in 1968.
In the last 10 years, the Symons family has lost three of those children due to various illnesses. Symons died Feb. 17, 2000. His wife loves to see her remaining family, especially when someone calls her grandma or great-grandma.
There's one more thing: It was a smart move to name an elementary school after Clayton Symons.
Martha Churchill is a member of the Milan Area Historical Society. She can be reached at 439-4055 or Martha@marthachurchill.com.
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