Clayton Lee Strecker was born on February 14, 2003 in McPherson, Kansas, the son of Neil Strecker and Mary Parks. He attended elementary school, junior high, freshman year and first semester of high school in Clay Center, Kansas. In the second semester of his sophomore year he began attending Salina South High School and graduated from Salina South in 2021. He attended one semester of college at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. Preferring to learn by doing, after a semester of college he realized that he could learn more and faster in the real world.
Clayton started working at Ace Hardware in Clay Center as a freshman in high school. He worked at Carlos O’Kelly’s, IHOP, and Walmart in Salina during his high school years. He began working at Crestwood after he returned to Salina from Topeka in June 2022. He then went to work for Schwan’s in 2023, where he worked in several departments including refrigeration, maintenance and reliability. While at Schwan’s he received several promotions and went to several certification workshops to earn certificates in ammonia, industrial refrigeration, ultrasound and forklift.
Clayton enjoyed sports and played summer rec baseball and was very active in the Clay Center Wrestling Club. While in junior high he continued wrestling but he also joined the football team and played 2 seasons of football at Clay Center Community High School
Clayton loved animals and adopted a cat from the Salina Animal Shelter whom he named Peru. He later brought home a stray whom he named K. Two years ago he added a dog whom he named Hazel. He loved his animals and doted on them.
When Clayton was 4 his father married Keisha Sherwood Strecker. Clayton received the Sacrament of Holy Baptism at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church when he was four years old.
Clayton passed away on June 16, 2026 at the age of 23. Clayton is survived by his parents, Neil and Keisha Strecker of Clay Center; brother, Blaise Strecker of Clay Center; sister, Avrie Haas of Clifton, Kansas; grandparents, Delvin and Anita Strecker of Salina; grandfather, Greg Sherwood of St. George, Kansas; grandmother, Shirley Britt (Randy) of Riley, Kansas; great-grandmother, Virginia Thyfault of Hays, Kansas; great-grandparents, Dennis and Renate Sherwood of Centerville, Utah; uncle, Matthias Sherwood (Sarah) of Newton, Kansas; uncle, Patrick Sherwood (Devin) of Clay Center; aunt, Jessica Walker of Miltonvale, Kansas; aunt, Jessica Bergmann (Holk) of San Francisco, California; and 25 great-aunts and uncles and numerous cousins.
Clayton was preceded in death by his great-grandparents, Melvin and Melba Strecker, Andres and Johanna Slinger, and great-grandfather Ronald Thyfault.
A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 2, 2026. Visitation will be from 9:00 a.m. until the service begins, all at Redeemer Lutheran Church, 743 E. Magnolia, Salina. Inurnment will be that afternoon, July 2nd, at 3:00 p.m. in the Sylvan Grove City Cemetery, Sylvan Grove, Kansas.
In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Salina Animal Shelter or a charity of the donor’s choice.