In Remembrance

Early on the morning of October 17, 2026, surrounded by his loving family, Clayton Nassau Koss sailed away to meet his Heavenly Father, beloved daughters and many other loved ones.

Clayton was born on May 26, 1939, in Duluth, Mn to Nassau and Grace (Linnell) Koss. He lived in Cook County most of his life, attending most of the different grade schools in the county, before graduating from Cook County High School in 1958.

On March 28, 1961, he married Nancy Clevette, his beloved wife of 65 years. They lived and raised their family at Egro Bay, near his dad. They often took the children to visit family on the ranches in Montana, and also family in Arizona, California and Virginia. After buying a tent camper, they enjoyed trips through the western states and up into the Canadian provinces. One of his greatest joys with the camper was taking his two older aunts from Montana on a trip reaching from North Carolina, north through the eastern states, and into the Maritime Provinces and back home through Canada.

They built a home near Pike Lake after he left fishing. They enjoyed 14 wonderful years there until Nancy’s retirement. They then moved to Washburn, WI near her cousins, where he enjoyed his large garage and learned to do wood working. He also helped with a large vegetable garden, mowed several acres, traveled the back roads and fed the birds. In 2016 they moved to GramercyPark Cooperative in Duluth, where he served on the Board of Directors and built large scale model boats, laying the keel like he had learned to do building wooden fishing skiffs with his dad.

He began his beloved commercial fishing career with his father at Egro Bay while still in school, and continued it for 39 years. While doing that, he began working for Erie Mining Company (later LTV Steel) in 1960. He spent his 31 years there loading taconite ships, unloading coal boats and operating heavy equipment on the coal pile. After he retired from LTV he continued working. He did soil percolation testing for Cook County Planning and Zoning, drove truck for Stan Bautch and Hoover Construction, groomed snowmobile trails for the Cook County Snowmobile Club and did General Maintenance for US Forest Service at the Grand Marais office. Clayton loved to learn new things, and he always said that he never held a job that he didn’t enjoy. He was truly a “jack of all trades” and could figure out how to do and fix most things.

He served on the Sea Grant Board, Arrowhead Electric Cooperative Board of Directors, Cook County Zoning Board, Bethlehem Lutheran Church Council, worked with the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon checkpoint at Pike Lake and helped lead eight Marriage Encounter weekends with Nancy.

He had a strength that could carry him through the hardest of days, a passion for the things and people he loved, and a spirit that was entirely his own. He brought so much personality, joy and color into this world. And we hope that a little bit of that lives on in every one of us lucky enough to have loved him.

He was preceded in death by his father Nassau, mother Grace, stepmother Carrie Savage, sisters Orlaine “Jo” Zimmerman and Ellen Janice Powers, beloved daughters Kathleen “Kathy” Koss Ehlers and Colleen Grace Koss.

He is survived by his wife Nancy, son Jerry, grandchildren Joelle Schmid (Justin), Clayton James Koss, Sam Koss (Erica), great grandchildren Dylan Schmid, Cooper Schmid, Archer Koss, Amelia Koss, and his beloved cat Buddy.

Services will be held in the late spring.