Hillbrook Teacher and Assistant Head of School, circa 1973 – 1999
By Robin Clements, Head of Hillbrook School (1976-1997)
Diana Laurie Julian Clayton, long-time Hillbrook teacher and administrator, died of pneumonia on Monday, January 9th at the age of 88. She came to Hillbrook in the early 1970s to teach 6th grade and became Assistant Head of School in 1981, retiring in 1999 after more than twenty-five years at Hillbrook. A no-nonsense teacher and administrator, she was nevertheless affectionately appreciated by nearly a full generation of Hillbrook students who knew her contagious laugh and sunny personality. Parents, too, could sense that behind her Assistant-Head role as disciplinarian lay a soul that loved the students for who they were and always looked for the best.
The daughter of English emigrants, she was raised in British Columbia and came south with her husband, Dick Clayton, to find a new life in Santa Clara County. They raised two sons, Mike and Jeff, both of whom survive her. Students will remember her as crisp in speech, formal in the classroom, kindly at recess, and capable of suddenly bursting into gales of laughter. In a tough spot her instincts were highly reliable, and she had a way, reporting on such moments, of locking her teeth, smiling mechanically, and saying, robot-like, “Don’t worry; everything is fine. Just fine.”
She moved in a stately and dignified way. Her organization, reliability, honesty, and underlying love kept the school functioning well for decades. All who knew her will miss that guffawing laugh.
What a nice tribute to a wonderful leader. I still remember being called into her office because I got caught running a football pool in which I was taking a 20% “commissioner’s cut.” I learned from that experience that 20% was too much. I can still hear her laugh.
Although I was her student long ago, I will never forget her. She changed my life for the better.