ST. LOUIS – William Lacy “Bill” Clay Sr., a civil rights leader and Missouri’s first African-American Congressman, has died at the age of 94.
Clay died Wednesday surrounded by family, according to FOX 2’s news partners at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Clay served Missouri’s 1st Congressional District with the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat from 1969-2001. The seat represents St. Louis City and parts of north St. Louis County.
Clay is largely remembered as an advocate for environmentalism, labor issues, and social justice. He supported the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, spent two decades revising the Hatch Act to expand federal workers’ political rights, consistently fought to raise the minimum wage and helped secure increased funding for historically Black colleges.
In 2001, Clay retired from the House, and his son, William Lacy Clay Jr. “Lacy,” took over, serving the seat through 2021. Wesley Bell currently serves the seat.
Bell shared the following statement Thursday morning on Clay’s passing:
“William Lacy Clay Sr. was a giant—not just for St. Louis, not just for Missouri, but for our entire country. His passing, only a few months after his wife Carol Ann Johnson Clay, is a profound loss for all of us who loved them, learned from them, and were lifted by their example. For over three decades, he carried the voices of working people, Black families, union members, and the unheard into the halls of power, and he made sure they echoed there.
Before he ever held office, he was already in the fight for civil rights. And once he got there, he never let up. Bill Clay knew this work isn’t about ego or headlines—it’s about staying rooted in principle, even when it’s hard. He said, “We have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, just permanent interests,” and he meant it. That’s how he served.
Mr. Clay believed politics was about purpose. That belief shaped the Congressional Black Caucus, of which he was a founding member. It shaped the fight to protect workers, expand access to education, and help fix a democracy that too often forgets the people at the bottom. And it shaped generations of public servants, including his son, my friend and predecessor, Lacy Clay Jr., who carries forward his great legacy every day.
I counted Mr. Clay as a grand mentor, as a trailblazer, and as a dear friend. But more than that, I carry his example with me every time I walk onto the House Floor. His courage. His fire. His commitment to justice. We have lost one of the fiercest champions our city and country have ever known.
He once said, “I didn’t come here to stay forever.” Maybe that was the only thing he ever got wrong. Because his legacy will be felt in these halls for as long as they stand.
My heart is with his family, with Lacy, and with every person whose life was better because Bill Clay chose to serve.”
