Clarice Stafford

Stafford (Salli), Clarice Marie

When she passed away in hospice care July 3, a framed poster on the wall of Clarice Marie Salli Stafford's Evanston, IL, living room proclaimed one of the major themes of her 97-year life: Learning never ends. Her family's belief in education propelled Clare from a farmhouse along the railroad tracks of Michigan's Upper Peninsula to Northern Michigan University, from which she graduated with distinction in three years, receiving just one B. She moved to Lower Michigan to teach in the Livonia Public Schools and was tapped to develop a district-wide program in remedial reading.

After completing master's and doctoral degrees at Wayne State University, she directed the undergraduate and graduate teacher education programs at Detroit's Marygrove College, then finished her career in the suburban Wayne-Westland Schools. There she was a principal, then the assistant superintendent for curriculum, a post in which she spent five years establishing the curriculum at the backbone of the district's elementary education programs.

All this and leadership roles with professional organizations, including the Michigan and International Reading Associations, would have been unthinkable without the constant support, encouragement and bedrock love of her partner in life, Bill, a native of Marquette, MI. Bill and Clare met at Northern Michigan University. After she helped him recover from polio in his 20s, he, too, went into education and became a caring elementary school teacher and principal for more than 20 years. Together – and while accomplishing all that they did – they raised two sons, Bill, of Evanston, IL, and Tom of Springfield, OH.

During nearly 30 years of retirement in Florida, Clare showed an until-then well-hidden athletic talent on the golf course while continuing her fierce play at the bridge table. Based in The Villages and Palm Harbor, the Staffords cruised, traveled widely and enjoyed the company of four grandchildren and five great-grandchildren: Christine (Jason) Huff and sons Atticus and Finnegan, of Springboro, Ohio; Benjamin Stafford, of Minneapolis; Sven (Kate) Stafford and son Archie, of Santa Cruz, Calif.; and Will (Beth) Stafford and daughters Anneli and Callie, of Washington, D.C. She also leaves behind daughters-in-law Ingrid (Bill) and Ann (Tom), for whom she was a formidable role model.

In 2015, Bill and Clare moved to Evanston, IL, where they developed more friendships through their talents for informed, engaging conversation. Death parted them in 2017 after 67 years of marriage. Even into her 90s, Clare lived with the strength and spirit embodied in "sisu," the Finnish term describing the amalgam of courage, ambition and persistence required to live a useful and caring life.

The family will scatter Clare and Bill's ashes into Lake Superior along a beach on Marquette's Presque Isle, where they met at a college beer party.

Memorial contributions may be made to Three Crowns Park, Attn: Clarice Stafford Memorial, 2323 McDaniel Ave., Evanston, IL 60201 or Clarice Salli Stafford Endowed Scholarship, Northern Michigan University Foundation, 1401 Presque Isle Ave., Marquette, MI 49855.

Funeral info: 847.673.6111 or habenfuneral.com to leave a condolence message.