Memorial

Cydney Alison (Clayton) Lovell, 49, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa passed away Sunday, December 15, 2024, surrounded by her loving family, at the Dennis and Donna Oldorf Hospice House in Hiawatha. A funeral service will be held at 1:30 PM on Saturday, December 21st, 2024, at the Veritas Church: 509 3rd St SE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401.  The visitation will be held prior to the service, from 09:00 AM to 12:30 PM, at the church.  A private family burial will be held at Cedar Memorial Park Cemetery.

Cydney Alison (Clayton) Lovell was born to William (Bill) and Sherry Clayton on November 11th, 1975. Her family resided in the small town of Dows, Iowa where Cydney was the eldest of three sisters. They, and many neighborhood friends, all provided her with much childhood companionship and adventure. Her maternal grandparents farmed about six miles north of Dows and provided her with much wisdom and Godly examples, as she spent many hours with them in her youth. However, their upstanding example was more than offset by the troublesome shenanigans of her four uncles. It created a favorable climate for the development of Cydney's self-confident, joyful, and person-focused disposition.

Cydney graduated from Dows High School in 1994, where she actively participated in basketball, track, volleyball, band, choir, plays, and musicals. She and her family attended Missionary Alliance Church in Blairsburg, Iowa where Cyd found spiritual growth through involvement in various church activities. She then attended the University of Northern Iowa, graduating in 1998 with a bachelor's degree in Communications. Later, she completed her Master’s in Communication Studies from the same institution. 

While studying at UNI, Cydney experienced the heartbreaking loss of her father, Bill, who passed away unexpectedly in a car accident. Though this tragedy deeply impacted her family, it did not dampen her naturally optimistic outlook on life or her joyful and encouraging personal presence which was probably inspired by her father’s warm and outgoing personality. 

She met Alan doing laundry at a party thrown by her roommate and friend, Dena, Alan's sister. Needing a companion for a wedding, Alan asked her out, and they were married on March 21, 1998, at her favorite uncle's church in Wellsburg, Iowa. They settled down together in their first of three homes in Cedar Rapids. While there, she was employed at The Gazette, Junge Automotive Group, Kirkwood Community College as Associate Dean of the Ag Department, and Area Manager at ITC Midwest and participated in many local community groups including Rotary Club of Cedar Rapids and the Boys and Girls Club of the Corridor. 

Cydney was the mother of three beautiful children: Jayden who received her bachelor’s from UNI and MBA from Grand Canyon University and works for Vanguard in Scottsdale, Arizona; Brody who is presently attending classes at UNI majoring in journalism/political communications; and Charley who attends classes at Kennedy HS and spends an inordinate amount of time fraternizing with her equally beautiful friends. All three are proven athletes and accomplished scholars and Cydney relished supporting them in their multifaceted endeavors. She will be greatly missed by them for the rest of their lives, but Cydney's lived example and manifested faith will make those lives, whether problematic or peaceful, examples of persevering service, grace, and tenacious love. 

She was preceded in death by her dad, Bill, her grandparents; uncles Terry Holmes, Jon and Paul Clayton and one niece, Emma. 

Cydney is survived by her husband Alan, three children: Jayden, Brody, and Charley; her mom Sherry Clayton; her sisters Hayley (husband Kevin) Olson and Lindey (husband Jordan) Archer and a countless multitude of uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, cousins, 2nd cousins, friends, and accomplices. 

But as many as these are, they pale in comparison with the number of relatives and interesting people that Cyd is presently getting acquainted with. But this is all possible only because one day a few decades back Cydney transferred ownership of herself to Jesus Christ, who alone is the reason, not only for the Season, but for the courage, compassion, and confidence with which Cyd faced the past year and a half of suffering and uncertainty. Suffering caused by a very volatile and aggressive cancer, which finally met its match and was obliterated by the lethal love of Jesus Christ in whose presence she now resides.