Regis Clay Breeland Coldron—known to everyone as Clay—passed away peacefully on May 26, 2026 at the age of 77.Knowing Clay meant understanding what it felt like to be completely enveloped in unconditi

Regis Clay Breeland Coldron—known to everyone as Clay—passed away peacefully on May 26, 2026 at the age of 77.Knowing Clay meant understanding what it felt like to be completely enveloped in unconditional, life-changing love. Warm, welcoming and effortlessly fun, Clay’s true work in life was celebrating the people she loved. She possessed a rare, intuitive spirit; she could read a room instantly, was generous to a fault, and always knew how to make people feel seen. Her 1967 Belmont Senior High School yearbook perfectly captured her resilient, joyful approach to life: “She parks her troubles in a box, sits on the lid, and smiles.”Family was Clay’s ultimate masterpiece and her greatest pride.Clay enjoyed an extraordinary bond with her younger sister, Nona. Their relationship was built on a foundation of deep love, endless laughter, and a shared history that stretched back to their earliest days in Belmont, North Carolina. Together with a tight-knit circle of neighborhood friends, they grew up at Belmont First Baptist Church. Their childhood was a beautiful tapestry of simple, happy moments: VBS and youth group, flying down the neighborhood sledding hill on Julia Ave. during winter snows, riding bikes through town, and hosting pajama parties in the bonus room of their home.As the years went on, Clay and Nona only grew closer, remaining lifelong best friends. They were constant fixtures in each other's daily lives, frequently leaning on each other to ride out the tense, final minutes of an important Carolina Tar Heels game together. Clay was also a fiercely devoted mother to Tiffany and Neil. She was the ultimate enabler of dreams. For years, she captained a busy family shuttle in her trusted Toyota 4Runner, crisscrossing Guilford County to ensure her kids never missed a beat of their many extracurriculars. Whatever her children loved, Clay loved. She was proudly the head “Cookie Mom" for Girl Scouts. She scorekept for Neil’s baseball team. She sat front and center for Tiffany’s dance and music theater performances, and Neil’s band concerts and marching band appearances. She also found ways to support them together, coaching Tiffany’s cheerleading squad—the one that cheered for Neil’s basketball team—just so she could stand on the sidelines and cheer for both of her children at the exact same time.Clay enveloped Tiffany and Neil in a protective, unconditional love that allowed them to see and experience the world, anchoring their lives with unforgettable adventures from Myrtle Beach, to the streets of France and Spain, to high-energy trips to Las Vegas with her sister, Nona. At home, she made the everyday feel just as grand. Every single holiday was immaculate, always featuring her signature strawberry cake and her famous, highly anticipated broccoli casserole.When her beloved grandchildren came into the world, she proudly took on her favorite title, "Mimi.” No matter where the event or the occasion, she sought them out first in the room. Clay dedicated hours of her life to caring for each boy while they were infants. As they became older, she would host slumber parties for them in the den or become the “Tickle Monster” to make them laugh. She shared a unique, magical bond with each boy. Will was her honest and fierce “soul child;” Connor was her spark in the night: the “one who made her dream.” She made sure to never miss a single moment with Will and Connor, and proudly shared their stories and photos.Gifts were her unmistakable love language. She showered everyone she loved with constant reminders of her affection through texts, phone calls and gifts.Clay found magic in the everyday. She loved the holiday season with a passion, and absolutely no one decorated for Christmas like Clay, with every decoration in its chosen spot, year after year. She often shared the kitchen with Tiffany for holiday meals, where they cooked for their guests and shared laughs together over a glass of wine before the meal. She never missed a day of importance: she would call to sing “Happy Birthday,” “In My Easter Bonnet” or a made-upsong about whatever she felt made you special.She was an avid reader, a master Sudoku enthusiast and a true animal lover. Clay was especially fond of hummingbirds, equally enjoyed a Diet Coke and a glass of Pinot Grigio, and never missed a chance to have sushi with Neil. She studied the weather and the stars, rarely missing a meteor shower, eclipse or a sighting of the International Space Station. And no matter the hour, Clay would call her family to tell them about snow falling at her home.The only thing Clay loved as loudly as her family were her sports teams. She was a vocal, fiercely loyal fan of everything UNC and the Carolina Panthers, sticking by them through every single drought year. She attended two Super Bowls and an NCAA Men’s Final Four tournament, acting as their most enthusiastic fan whether in the stadium or on her own couch.In her youth, Clay honed her ability to be a true force of nature. She was incredibly smart, a natural leader, and the star captain of her varsity women's basketball team. She was a student leader and the girls' sports editor for The Clarion, earning induction into Quill & Scroll, an international honor society recognizing outstanding student achievement and high ethical standards in journalism. Clay was also selected for Girls State—a competitive honor where promising rising high school seniors spend a week in Raleigh learning about government—and was named to her senior class’s coveted Who’s Who.She went on to earn her associate’s degree from Gardner-Webb University and later served her community as a high school teaching assistant at Southern Guilford High School—where her children were in attendance—in the 2000s. There, she did what she had always done: surrounded people with love, believed in their potential, and turned coworkers and students into lifelong friends.Clay was preceded in death by her father, Wade H. Breeland; her mother, Regis Pauline Bumgardner Breeland; and her brother, Wade H. Breeland, Jr.Her immense warmth lives on in those who survive her: her daughter, Tiffany Brannan, and her husband, Shel, along with their children, Will and Connor; her son, Neil Coldron; and her sister, Nona Breeland.Clay lived to celebrate everything—and sometimes, absolutely nothing at all. Because for her, the magic of life was truly in the everyday moments with the people she loved.In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to any of her favorite organizations: the South Point High School Big Red Booster Club (mail to: South Point High School, Attn: Big Red Booster Club, 906 South Point Rd., Belmont, NC 28012); St. JudeChildren’s Research Hospital; or Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF).