Jack Clay, 76, of Cape Girardeau died Monday, Sept. 8, 2003, at St. Francis Medical Center.

He was born Sept. 22, 1926, son of D.F. and Etta Lester Clay of Cape Girardeau. He attended May Greene School, Central High School, and Southeast Missouri State University.

During World War II he served as a midshipman with the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific. After the war he earned degrees at the University of Texas in Austin.

Mr. Clay served as commissioner of insurance for the state of Missouri under two governors. After retiring from the state, he assumed the presidency of a life insurance company and in the following years assumed the presidency of two additional life insurance companies, one in Baton Rouge, La., and the other in Birmingham, Ala.

After retiring from the insurance business he returned to Cape Girardeau and taught at Southeast Missouri State University, retiring in 1988.

He married Victoria "Vicki" Allison Jenkins Clay June 22, 1989, in Cape Girardeau. She survives.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and a sister, Betty Jo Clay of San Diego, Calif.

There is no visitation or public service.

McCombs Funeral Home in Cape Girardeau is in charge of arrangements.

Memorials may be sent to the American Heart Association, P.O. Box 30638, Columbia, Mo. 65205.