City of Oaks Funeral Home & Cremation
Obituary
Ruth Agnes Dunkley Clayton
Cary, North Carolina
Age 83.
Died 05/12/2026.
She was a native of Person County and a long-time Cary resident. She was born to Ellis and Agnes Harris Dunkley on September 19, 1942. Ruth married Edward Clayton, her high school sweetheart, life mate, and best friend, who survives her.
Also surviving are sons Gary Clayton of Person County and Kevin Clayton (Patti) of Cary, brothers Donnie Dunkley (Rozelyn) of Henderson and Shaub Dunkley of Candler, sister-in-law Lois Dunkley of Roxboro, and brother-in-law Earl Clayton of Cary. She was predeceased by her parents and brother, Ronnie Dunkley.
She and Ed met as juniors at Roxboro High School in a public speaking class. After graduating, she became a nursing student at Watts Hospital School of Nursing in Durham. Two years later, the two of them married and moved into married student housing at NC State University, where Ed was an engineering student. During that time, Ruth worked in the obstetrics department at WakeMed.
Ruth and Ed were blessed with two sons, Gary and Kevin. Ruth said that she had always been a part of all-boy families. She was the oldest of four children, with three brothers. She joked that as a mother, she also had three boys, the two sons plus Ed. Ruth embodied the very essence of motherhood—always knowing exactly what to do and how to care.
Friendships with classmates in the Roxboro High School Class of 1960 were important to both Ruth and Ed. Appropriately, the class motto is “Friends for Life.”
Ruth returned to her calling after her sons were grown and Ed retired, becoming a nurse in a doctor’s office. She earned a reputation for painless shots, and her compassionate nature won her many friends among the staff and patients.
As Ruth and Ed aged, she precipitated their move to Glenaire, a senior living community in Cary. Living in a cottage, she enjoyed tending to her flowers and making many friends.
Ruth embodied the principles of kindness and compassion. She was (and always will be) the heart of our family, making all of our time together special. She loved unconditionally and always tried to empathize with and lift the spirits of everyone around her. She was a world-class hugger.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to a charity of one’s choice.
A Celebration of Life to honor Ruth’s life will be held at Glenaire (4000 Glenaire Circle, Cary) at 10:00 am on Thursday, May 21. A second Celebration of Life will be held at the church of her youth, Lamberth Memorial Baptist Church (1026 Longs Store Rd, Roxboro), at 3:00 pm on Sunday, May 31.
Ruth enriched so many lives through the years, and hers was blessed in turn. She would encourage us all, even as we miss her so deeply, to look up at the moon at night—as she loved doing—and rest assured that “The light of the moon shall carry my thoughts to you through the darkness. They will comfort your heart, knowing we are connected and you are never alone.”
For additional information or for service details, please reach out to the family directly.
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City of Oaks Cremation and Funeral Home is a full-service funeral home in Raleigh, serving all of North Carolina and beyond. We provide an alternative to costly funeral homes and every day we help families in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and all over North Carolina make simple, affordable funeral arrangements.
Simply having to reach out to a funeral home can feel overwhelming. Our goal is to simplify the entire funeral home experience and make the process as easy as possible. We hope to eliminate any unnecessary surprises by publishing our total cost and the services we provide directly on our website. All of our obituaries are provided free of charge as a way to help families celebrate and commemorate the lives of their loved ones.
Our Promise
Apples to Apples
Just like all other licensed funeral homes in North Carolina, City of Oaks Cremation, LLC is regulated by the NC Board of Funeral Service.
The same laws that apply to the big corporate funeral homes also apply to the modest independently owned firms like ours. All crematories in North Carolina, regardless of who owns them, are inspected annually by the state and must adhere to the same rules and laws.
Genuine Care
We're committed to providing families within our community unsurpassed service before, during and after the time of loss.
Our staff will provide clear communication to your family through each step as we move forward from the original phone call notifying us of a death to the time we deliver the urn back to your family. We will treat your family with the utmost respect, as we honor the wishes of your loved one.
We promise to make this process affordable and as endurable as possible.
State Wide
Our Funeral Home is located in Wake County NC; however, we provide our services to families throughout the entire State.
Unlike other funeral homes, we don't charge an additional mileage fee. Regardless of what county you live in, we can help your family with making simple, affordable funeral arrangements. From Asheville to Wilmington, we're proud to help families statewide.
Our Services
$1196.75
Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. We include everything you need for a simple or direct cremation. Simple, affordable and reliable. We have not changed the cost of our direct cremation service since we opened City of Oaks in 2012.
$2875.66
We offer the option of choosing how you receive your loved ones remains. Selecting our Direct Cremation with Solidified Remains option is a beautiful way to transform cremated remains into 40-60 “stones” that you can hold.
$1917.84
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation option with onsite visitation. Nobody likes surprise costs added in at the last minute. We guarantee you will not find any hidden charges here. Simple, affordable and reliable.
$1596.75
City of Oaks Funeral Home and Cremation provides an affordable cremation with a private family viewing. A private family viewing allows up to 10 immediate family members or friends to spend time with a loved one when a public visitation is not preferred.
$2497.50
An immediate burial has the same end result as a traditional burial; however, we have eliminated the extra (sometimes unnecessary) services prior to getting to the cemetery. Not everyone wants an open casket for viewing or a limousine for the family. Despite the term immediate, we can move as fast as you need or as slow as you like. This option simply allows you to save money by eliminating some of the fancy extras at the funeral home.
$6081.48
We offer the same traditional funeral services as the big corporately owned funeral homes in the area; however, we cost about half the amount. You might consider a traditional funeral service if your family is looking for an open casket visitation, a traditional church service or a funeral service in the funeral home's chapel. A traditional funeral service can be altered to fit the needs of your family.
$3033.75
This establishment is one of a select number of funeral homes who meet the criteria for providing green funeral service by the Green Burial Council; a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization working to encourage environmentally sustainability in the field of funeral service. Our Green options allow for a funeral to take place without the use of toxic and non-biodegradable materials/chemicals.
$2640.59
As an alternative to traditional cremation, City of Oaks Funeral Home offers Alkaline Hydrolysis. The Alkaline Hydrolysis process uses a solution of water and potassium hydroxide to facilitate natural decomposition.