Removing barriers
Celebrate Clyde’s life with a gift to the Clyde Mayfield Memorial Scholarship—give online here.
When it came to providing opportunities to others in his community, Clyde Mayfield wasn’t willing to count anyone out. “If somebody had a barrier, he was about removing that barrier,” said Molly Mayfield, one of Clyde’s daughters.
Clyde passed away in August at the age of 68, leaving behind him a wake of generosity and grateful recipients of his passion for learning. The Clyde Mayfield Memorial Scholarship has been established at the Quad Cities Community Foundation to celebrate his life and provide scholarships through a partnership with the Davenport Schools Foundation.
“Clyde exemplified what it means to empower those around you to be their best,” said Anne Calder, vice president of development. “His legacy in this community will serve as a reminder that it’s never too late to pursue an education or whatever dreams you have for yourself.”
Clyde was the owner of Greatest Grains in Davenport, a Davenport fireman, and a consistent cheerleader for education and youth. A prominent member in the Black community, Clyde worked with NAACP, mentored students, and served for several years on the board of the Davenport School District. “He was extremely dedicated to the community and that took so many forms,” said Pauli Escobedo, one of his five children with wife Julie Martens. Clyde married Julie in 1980, and the couple ran Greatest Grains on Harrison Street to provide natural, healthy food to the community, to give back, and to create a place for community to happen.” learning.
While Clyde had six children, he served as a father figure to many nieces, nephews, and neighborhood children. “When they started the business, my dad didn’t know much about refrigeration and he was in there learning how to do it,” said Molly. “He really thought you are never done learning in life and that was indicative of where his heart and mind were.”
Clyde grew up in a single-parent home and was the first in his family to graduate from college. He developed a passion for advancing opportunities for minority and under-privileged populations after his own upbringing, and run-ins with the law.
“He never shied away from those stories because he wanted people to know there is nothing that disqualifies a kid from furthering themselves. He never gave up on kids with a past.”
He also cared about so many local families, Molly said, serving as a role model for parents. “He wanted them to understand that youth don’t have to come from privilege to get a good education so they can support themselves and their families, and that they can build a business based on their dreams and talent,” Molly said.
He walked that out, they said, by building Greatest Grains into a successful business that gave back to the community from its inception in 1979. “People came for the bread, but they also came because it was a safe haven for people who needed a job, whether they had been incarcerated or were out of work,” Pauli said.
Greatest Grains offered cooking lessons, school tours and made donations to community causes. “The store was an opportunity to help more people,” Pauli added.
In 2018, Clyde had a health scare and his family feared he would die. “We thought we were going to lose him then,” Molly recalled. “He told us then that his mission in life was to provide opportunities for people. We want the scholarship to be about that—whether it was the store or him teaching phonics or serving on the school board—he really wanted a way for people who had been overlooked or had fallen through the cracks.”
It’s one of the reasons the scholarships will go to students who desire to better themselves, and just need a little help to get over some hurdles, Pauli said. “Dad wasn’t going to help you unless you were willing to help yourself,” she said, so the recipients of scholarships will be hard workers, and have leadership skills. “This is a scholarship for students who have the ability to lead and maybe hasn’t been called on yet.”
Celebrate Clyde’s life with a gift to the Clyde Mayfield Memorial Scholarship—give online here.