William J. "Bill" Clifford

Bill was born December 11, 1937, in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in the city’s “Southie”, Roxbury and Dorchester neighborhoods. He graduated from Boston College in 1959 and was assigned to Fort Sill, Oklahoma as part of his military obligation upon graduation. The difference between the Boston and Oklahoma living environments caused Bill to become an “Okie by choice” when his active-duty assignment was completed. He moved to Oklahoma City in 1960, where he met his future bride of 62 years, Sue Russell, and became involved in the Oklahoma City civil rights sit-ins. Bill and Sue share four children, eight grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

A career in the organizational management and economic development fields unfolded in the Oklahoma communities of Fairview, Chickasha, Ardmore, Ponca City, Burns Flat and Stroud…a career that was sprinkled with jobs in Governor Dewey Bartlett’s Office of Economic Opportunity, a stint as staff to the Oklahoma Joint Legislative Committee on Economic Development, and several Councils of Government organizations dealing with the expansion of local community infrastructure and development opportunities.

Since retiring, Bill’s energies have centered around increasing Oklahoma’s participation rate among registered voters. When people sense that no one in the political process listens to them, both their voice and the value of our national ideal are muffled. In the extreme, this threatens the very core concept of America. The present rate of voter participation in the State of Oklahoma is unacceptable and can only be improved by a movement that is more politically astute than politically partisan. Getting more people involved in the voting process is a non-partisan issue; it’s an issue of basic civics. The question now on the table is: “How do we make this happen in ways that are practical and self-generating?” Our basic way of life depends on it.

Bill passed away November 4, 2024, at his home surrounded by his family.

A visitation will be held Wednesday, November 6, 2024, at 6 pm at Smith & Kernke N. May Chapel. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Thursday, November 7 at 10:30 am at St. Ann’s Retirement Center Chapel, burial will follow at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens.