Clifford "Cliff" Ross Taft Sr.

Clifford Ross "Cliff" Taft Sr., 83, a longtime resident of Grapevine, Texas, went home to be with Jesus on Tuesday, September 15, 2026, at Teresa's House, a memory care home in Argyle, where he spent his final months.

Cliff was born November 16, 1942, in Port Arthur, Texas, to Gunnar Emil Taft, a merchant marine originally from Denmark, and Ruby Jewel Dyson Taft. He was nearly three years older than his brother Richard, and before he was ten years old he was making Richard's lunches and getting him to school. Richard said many times over the years that his brother was really his dad.

Football got him out of Port Arthur. He played at Thomas Jefferson High School and earned a scholarship to TCU, where he played guard and linebacker for Abe Martin in the early 1960s. He came back to TCU in 1968 as an assistant on Fred Taylor's staff and was named head freshman coach in 1969. He later earned a master's degree.

He spent four decades coaching high school football across Texas, with stops that included Port Lavaca, Bloomington High School, San Angelo, Duncanville, Irving, and R.L. Turner in Carrollton. A generation of players and coaches knew him as Coach Taft. Cliff saw the best in every person, many times before they could see it in themselves.

Cliff married Linda Forrest on September 13, 1971, and they were married 36 years, until her passing in 2008. Together they raised their son, Scott. The family settled in Grapevine in 1986, and that was home for nearly 40 years. On June 2, 2012, he married Ann Payne, who survives him. For many years Fellowship of the Parks in Grapevine was his church home. Away from football, his favorite pastimes were fishing and spending time with his family.

Cliff was preceded in death by his parents; his wife of 36 years, Linda Forrest Taft; his son, Clifford Ross Taft Jr.; his half-brother, James Cliver, and James's wife, Goldie; and his brother, Richard Allen Taft, who passed on July 26, 2026. At Richard's service, Scott said there was real comfort in knowing Richard would be there to welcome his brother when his own time came. Seven weeks later, that comfort holds.

Cliff is survived by his wife of 14 years, Ann Payne; his son, Scott Forrest Taft, and Scott's children, Gunnar and McKinley Taft; his daughter, Cindy Lyn Forse, and her family; the family of his late son, Clifford Ross Taft Jr.; his half-sister, Constance "Connie" Levonia Barrs of Florida, and her family; his sister-in-law, Frances Denise Taft; his nieces and nephews, Traci Corder, Natalie Dollar, Josh Taft, and Chelsea Altuna, and their families; and Ann's children, Alex Payne and his wife Amanda, Natalie Keller and her husband Michael, and Chandler Payne, and her grandchildren, Ethan, Emerson, Evan, Victoria, Sean, and Zachary.

Visitation will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, at Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home, 5725 Colleyville Blvd, Colleyville, Texas 76034, followed by the funeral service at 1:30 p.m. and interment to follow in Bluebonnet Hills Memorial Park. Friends are invited to all three.

Flowers are welcome. For anyone who would rather give in his memory, the family asks that you consider one of three organizations that protect children who are disadvantaged and cannot always protect themselves. He was a boy who raised his little brother, and this is a way to honor that.

AT LAST!, a Dallas nonprofit, gives under-resourced students a safe, structured home during the school week so they can succeed at school. atlastboarding.com

Texas CASA supports the court-appointed volunteers who stand beside abused and neglected children in foster care and speak up for what is best for them until they have a safe, permanent home. texascasa.org

DIRECTION61:3 gives teens aging out of foster care a home, mentors, and a path to independence. direction613.org/give

The family is thankful for the caregivers at Teresa's House and at Arcy Hospice, who were incredibly loving and made Cliff feel like he was with family.

"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:2-3