Roy Dean Leighton passed away at the age of 84, surrounded by his family in Dayton, Tennessee on Saturday, April 30, 2016 from cancer.

A Memorial service will be held at the Clayton First United Methodist Church on May 28, 2016 at 11:00 AM. A memorial fund has been set up in his name at the Clayton United Methodist Church to be used for the Nancy Leighton Memorial Thanksgiving Dinner.

Roy Dean Leighton was born in Clayton, New Mexico on January 16, 1932 to Oliver Leighton and Hazel Fredricksen and joined Rema and Loren Leighton as the third and last child. He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers and his wife of 58 years, Nancy Anne Luartes Leighton. He is survived in death by his five children, 15 grandchildren, four adopted grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.

In 1950, Roy Dean graduated from Clayton High School and then joined the US Army for one tour in Greenland. When he was on his way home, he met Nancy at a USO dance in Philadelphia, PA. They fell in love and were married in Camden, NJ, her hometown, on December 3, 1955.

In 1957, Roy Dean and Nancy moved to a ranch 3½ miles west of Clayton, NM where they lived the rest of their lives. They raised five children there: Nancy Anne (Paul) Mock of Valle, AZ, Karen Jeanne Wezwick of Las Vegas, NM, Roy Dean (Pam) Leighton, Jr. of Houston, TX, Deidre Lynne (Steve) Nordel of Torrance, CA and Leana Lee (Jim) Graves of Dayton, TN.

Roy Dean ran cattle for a few years then opened up a meat processing plant on the ranch where he processed most anything that walked on four legs. In 1970, he closed the plant and he and Nancy opened a gift store called "Northern Lights" in the lobby of the Eklund Hotel. The made and sold sand candles through that store along with other gift items. When they left that operation a couple of years later, they moved their store to a place next to the Frosty Bar (on First Street), now the site of apartments.

In 1974, the Leightons bought Duggins Hardware at 10 Main Street in Clayton and created Leighton's Gifts. They sold gift items and housewares from this location until they sold it in 2001. In 1984, Roy Dean realized a lifelong dream when they purchased the Luna Theater and premiered the first installment of "Ghost Busters". When he was a teenager, he had learned how to run the projectors there and fell in love with the whole operation. They sold the theater in 2009 to the City of Clayton in association with the Clayton Main Street Association and were instrumental in getting it designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2007.

Roy Dean was active in many organizations throughout his life. In the 1960's, he worked mostly behind the scenes with the Clayton Players while Nancy performed on stage. He was an active member of the Clayton Baptist Church and then the Clayton United Methodist Church where he was a member for the past 45+ years. He was also a member of the Clayton Chamber of Commerce and the Clayton Main Street Association. He was an active member of the Rabbit Ear Volunteer Fire Department and donated land west of Clayton for their Fire House. Roy Dean was named Pioneer of the year in 2011. Roy Dean's sense of humor and twinkly eyes will be sorely missed by all who knew him.