Walter Augustine Clancy II

Carried to Heaven on the wings of his guardian angel and guided by his strong Catholic faith in Eternal Life, which was instilled in him by his parents, Walter Augustine Clancy, II died peacefully in his sleep on Sunday, November 16, 2025, at the age of 91. Born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on February 6, 1934, to John Anthony Clancy, Sr. and Ellen Anna Joy Clancy, Walter was the eighth of thirteen children. Because of the way that young Walter waddled as a chubby little toddler, his father nicknamed him “Coal Oil Benny” after the man who lit the coal oil lamps each night along the street when he himself was a boy. Some of Walter’s childhood friends have continued to refer to him as “Ben” Clancy to this very day.

From first grade through eighth grade, Walter attended the old St. Mary’s School on Vine Avenue, right next to the Church of the Immaculate Conception where he worshipped his entire life, where he served for many years as an altar boy, and where he received the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Eucharist, and Penance. During his years as a schoolboy at St. Mary’s, the Religious Sisters of Mercy who ran the school knew that they could always depend on young Walter to assist them eagerly with the many tasks involved with running a parochial school. In the years that followed, Walter continued to foster this relationship with the Religious Sisters of Mercy in Knoxville which had begun with his parents, John and Ellen and his namesake and uncle, Walter Augustine Clancy. Like them, he was always more than happy to oblige whenever called upon for anything from providing transportation to Nashville to funding a special project to printing holy cards and special prayer cards for the sisters at St. Mary’s Hospital and the various Catholic schools around the city.

From St. Mary’s School, Walter went on to attend Knoxville Catholic High School, which at that time was in the old Ashe home on Magnolia Avenue. At KCHS, Walter was voted class officer all four years and served as class President his senior year. He had the distinction of representing KCHS at Boys’ State the summer following his junior year. Always popular with the coeds, Walter also had the distinction of being the only KCHS student to have attended the KCHS prom for five years running—in addition to attending the junior-senior proms his junior and senior years, he was also invited to the prom by KCHS coeds as an eighth-grader, a ninth-grader, and a tenth-grader.

After school each day, both at St. Mary’s School and at KCHS, Walter and his older brothers would walk down to Gay Street to help their father at the family business, Clancy’s Service Stamp Company.

During his years at St. Mary’s School and Knoxville Catholic High School, Walter became lifelong friends with the late Honorable Charles D. Susano, Jr., Tennessee’s longest-serving appellate judge. He also counted among his lifelong friends another group of KCHS alums, which included the late Steve Kirk, the late Jimmy Long, the late Cormac McCarthy, and the late Dan Rankin.

After graduating from KCHS in 1954, Walter went on to attend the University of Tennessee, where he majored in Transportation. His college studies were interrupted when, following in the footsteps of his father and brothers, he answered duty’s call by enlisting in the United States Army, one of the many, many sacrifices which he was to make throughout his adult life—a life spent with unfaltering devotion and attention to his God, his family, and his country. As one of the finest men, one of the most faithful servants, and one of the most devoted patriots to ever walk this earth, Walter A. Clancy, II spent his entire life as the epitome of a servant leader, and he absolutely gave his all for everyone that he loved. He blessed the lives and touched the hearts of countless thousands during his 91 years. Walter may have never received the Sacrament of Holy Orders, yet every person who was blessed to have met him—whether for a moment or for a lifetime—knew that they had been in the presence of a holy man—a saint on earth.

Walter’s devotion to his family was unmatched. Each night that his mother lay in state at Roberts Funeral Home in Knoxville sixty years ago this very month, Walter would not leave her side. As the lights dimmed and everyone went home, Walter held vigil by her casket all through the night because he knew that “Mama did not like to be alone or to be in the dark.”

For his “commitment and service to the American Legion,” Walter was awarded an honorary life membership in Post 2 of the American Legion. He was also a lifetime member of the Forty & Eight, a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and a member of the Fraternal Order of Eagles. For his “patriotism, valor, and fidelity,” Governor Ned McWherter appointed him to the rank of Tennessee Colonel. He was also a Fourth Degree Knight in the Knights of Columbus Council 645.

Although he never had children of his own, Walter was truly celebrated on Father’s Day! He was the uncle who was always there, whenever and wherever he sensed a need!! Over the years, he has been a friend, an ally, a mentor, a spiritual advisor, a financial advisor, a plumber, an electrician, an auto mechanic, a home inspector, a yard man, an historian, a fan, a cheerleader, and a mender of everything broken—from a broken toy to a broken heart—to a host of nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, and great-great nieces and great-great nephews who love him dearly and will miss him terribly!!

Walter’s Army days took him to Germany and France, and upon his return, he once again, “came home” to Clancy’s Service Stamp Company. Over the years in the family business, Walter worked alongside nearly all of his brothers and sisters at one time or another and a multitude of nieces and nephews as well. At the time of his death, Walter was eagerly anticipating and excitedly preparing for the 100-year anniversary in March of the company to which he devoted the greater part of his life and which bears his family’s name, having been started by his mother and father in March 1926. His father, John A. Clancy, Sr., a bridge-builder from Knoxville, Tennessee, found himself in Walter Reed Hospital in 1926 with a broken back, the result of a fall while working on one of the bridges that he was building. He told one of the doctors at Walter Reed Hospital about how badly he wanted a son. The doctor advised him to load up his wife and four little daughters, return to his hometown and start a business, and the Lord would send him a son. So, as soon as he was well enough to leave Walter Reed, he did exactly that, and in March 1926, John and Ellen Clancy opened Clancy’s Service Stamp Company in Knoxville, Tennessee. In 1928, Joseph Lawrence Clancy, II was born; in 1930, John A. Clancy, Jr. was born; in 1932, Thomas S. Clancy, II was born; and in 1934, Walter A. Clancy, II was born. So, next March, Walter will be joining each of these brothers, along with his sisters Teresa Clancy Irwin and her husband, John; Mary Clancy Williams and her husband, Skid; Ellen Clancy Pickering and her husband, Stan; Joy Clancy Carden and her husband, Joe, Frances Clancy Noe and her husband, Red, Annunciata Clancy Nutter and her husband, Gene; his sister-in-law Helen Howard Clancy, his brother-in-law Bob Winter, his nieces Marie Williams, Elizabeth Anna Clancy, and Bernarda Carden; his nephews John (Judy) Irwin, Jr., Skid Williams, Jr., John Clancy Pickering, Frank Pickering, Gene Nutter, Jr., Gregory Nutter, Paul Scrudder, Sr., and Michael Kirrman, Sr., and his great-nephew Matthew Kirrman as they celebrate from Heaven the 100th anniversary of the company that bears their family’s name.

Left here on earth to mourn the loss of this sweet, wonderful man, but also to celebrate his life here on earth and to rejoice in his Eternal Life in Heaven is Walter’s sister Patricia Clancy Winter and her daughter, Joy, and Joy’s daughters Meghan and Morgan, and her son, Danny, Danny’s wife Liz, and their daughters Cami and Dani; Walter’s brother Daniel A. Clancy and his wife, Diana, and their son, Sean, and his children, Daniel and Elizabeth; Walter’s nephews Anthony (Carol) Irwin; Stanley (Kathy) Pickering, II; Jim (Stephanie) Pickering; Tom (Pat) Carden; John Clancy, III; Mark (Andrea) Nutter; Brett (Amy) Nutter; Walter’s nieces Mary Ellen Scrudder; Teresa K. (Michael) Bailey; Pat Williams; Ellen (Bob) Hunter; Judy Pickering; Angel (Bill) Brewer; Regina (William) Lovelace; Lisa Kirrman; Candy Nutter; Juli (Jim) Raines; a host of great nieces and great nephews and great-great nieces and great-great nephews; his namesake, Walter Augustine Pickering, his dear friends, Jim Grigsby and David McCarley, and his special friend, Letha Lehman.

The family will receive friends from 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. Sunday, November 23, 2025 at Mynatt Funeral Home, Fountain City 2829 Rennoc Road Knoxville, TN 37918 followed by a 7:00 p.m. Rosary Service, Father John Orr celebrant.  Funeral  mass 2:00 p.m. Monday, November 24, 2025 at Holy Ghost Catholic Church, Father John Orr celebrant.  Burial to follow in Calvary Catholic Cemetery.  Online condolences may be expressed at www.mynattfh.com.