Doris J. Clifford

Doris Jean Clifford passed away peacefully on September 7, 2014 in Georgetown, Texas. Doris Jean was born to Floyd R. and Clara Huff Jones on July 22, 1920 in Milford, Michigan and grew up and attended school there. Upon graduation she attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and received a BA there. While there, she met F. Burr Clifford, and married him August 26, 1943. Doris taught school in Dearborn while Burr finished seminary work at Oberlin College in Ohio, and in 1947 moved to Britton, MI where he was pastor, and professor at nearby Adrian College. In 1953, the family moved to Oxford, GA, and in 1958, to Georgetown, where Burr was first professor of Humanities and later Dean at Southwestern University. Doris, after the stint teaching in Dearborn; devoted herself to her family as two sons, John and David were born in Michigan, and later a daughter, Jeanne Ellen, after reaching Texas. She had a number of "part-time" jobs, substitute teacher, and in Georgetown columnist for the Williamson County Sun writing the "News From the Churches" and "Yesteryears" columns for a number of years. She had a lively interest in the world. After Burr's retirement, they traveled quite extensively, often on natural history tours. She knew the wildflowers and greenery of the area well. She kept up with world affairs with her daily paper, and kept a daily journal while in assisted living (despite its illegibility!), and she was proud of her family relation to John and John Quincy Adams and was currently reading a biography of John Quincy Adams. Doris was a member of First United Methodist Church and within that the United Methodist Women and a District officer of that group. She was a member of the Women's Club of Georgetown, and the Pathfinders Sunday School class and the VEEPS at Southwestern. Doris was preceded in death by her parents and a stepmother, Marian, by a brother Donald; and her husband Burr. She is survived by her sons John F. and wife Bernie Clifford of Round Rock, TX; David B. and wife Judy Clifford of St. Louis, MO; and daughter Jeanne Ellen Weiss and husband Larry of Woodinville, WA; and two grandchildren, Michael Clifford of Chicago, and Ellen Clifford of Los Angeles. Services will be September 20, 2014, at 2 p.m.at First United Methodist Church in Georgetown. Memorials may be directed to the F. Burr and Doris Clifford Endowed Fund at Southwestern University, to the First United Methodist Church Library, or the City of Georgetown Public Library. The Gabriels Funeral Chapel is handling arrangements.