Patrick Henry Clifford

Patrick Henry Clifford passed into eternal life at 7:22am Wednesday March 3, 2021, in his home with his family at his side. He was born in Parsons, Kansas on May 8, 1933 to Anna Kathleen (Regan) and Michael Joseph Clifford. He left Parsons to join the Navy in 1951, where he served on the USS Pointe Cruz until 1955. He continued his service in the Naval Reserve for another year and was honorably discharged in 1956. Pat attended Rockhurst College, where he played point guard on the basketball team, and obtained his BS.

Pat married Rose Marie Fotovich (Rosemary) on May 31, 1958. Pat and Rosemary made their home in Kansas City and had 4 children over the following 5 years. After a very short tenure at the Multiprint Company, Pat joined the Stuart Hall Company as a purchasing agent in 1959. He steadily advanced his career by earning multiple promotions over his nearly 35-year career at Stuart Hall, ultimately serving as the Executive Vice President until his retirement in 1992. Other than a couple of years spent in Westfield, Massachusetts (a short drive from Boston), Pat spent his entire career in Kansas City. He and Rosemary have made their home in Leawood, Kansas since 1987.

Pat was a loving, dedicated, and compassionate husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather. He loved his family fiercely and was a constant guiding force in their lives. Although he coached several of the teams on which his kids played, when not coaching, he and Rosemary sat through literally thousands of baseball, basketball, and soccer games to watch their children and grandchildren play….always providing multiple “atta boys” accompanied by a few “be more aggressive” and “use your head”, among other improvement recommendations! He was also quite well known by his family for delivering lengthy and insightful “sermons”! He was truly a great dad and grandfather. Pat and Rosemary have been members of St. Thomas More Catholic Church for nearly 50 years, where Pat also served as a member of the Knights of Columbus.

Although his family was his first passion, Pat was also known as a fanatical and passionate golfer. He and Rosemary were members of Leawood South Country Club for nearly 40 years, where he golfed whenever time allowed between work and either coaching or watching kids’ games. However, once he retired, Pat was golfing 6 days per week. In addition to creating enumerable friendships, he was intensely competitive on the golf course and earned the moniker “old warhorse” from his beloved friends at Leawood South. If not on the golf course, you would often find Pat wearing his green Masters sport coat in the 19th hole bar drinking a scotch with Rosemary and any number of good friends. If not there, he and Rosemary could often be spotted on Steve & Shannon’s patio eating a steak and drinking a glass (or two) of good cabernet. Pat and Rosemary were also road warriors, frequently traveling to visit Kelly and Therese and their families in San Antonio and Dallas, respectively.

Pat, Dad and Grandpa (Pops) will be sorely missed by his surviving family, including Rosemary, his wife of nearly 63 years, children Therese Dean, Stephen Clifford (Shannon), Kelly Hoog (David), grandchildren Gregory Dean (Tabitha), Michael Dean (MK), Alexandra Dreher (Josh), Mitchell Clifford (Kelly), Jessica Corkins (Sam), Jack Clifford, James Clifford, Harrison Hoog, Jillian Hoog, Katherine Hoog, and 5 great grandchildren Kinley Dean, Liam Dean, Jameson Dreher, Addison Dreher, and Olivia Corkins, and a multitude of loving nephews and nieces. He was preceded in death by his daughter Mary Pat Clifford, his parents, siblings Francis, Joanne and John, as well as his mother-in-law Mary Fotovich, and his father-in-law, Steve Fotovich.

The family requests any donations be made to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society or St. Thomas More Catholic Church.