Peggy Clifford

1940 - 2024

Peggy Clifford
October 19, 1940 - January 31, 2024
Margaret "Peggy" Ellen Clifford (née McShane), blessed and beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and accomplished educator, passed away peacefully on January 31, 2024, at home in Redwood City, California. Her loving family was by her bedside. She was 83.
Peggy was the eldest of five (Ginny, Raymond+, John, and Joannie+). She grew up in the Richmond District of San Francisco, across the street from the Golden Gate Park playgrounds that she enjoyed in her youth. The McShanes were devoted members of Star of the Sea parish, where Peggy attended grammar and high school. The family enjoyed many summer vacations in Santa Cruz. Her first job was as an usherette for Giants games at Candlestick Park. She was proud to be a third-generation native San Franciscan.
But that was nothing compared to the adventure that was to come. In 1960, she met the love of her life, James (Jim) O'Connell Clifford, on a blind date while they were students at San Francisco State University. In 1962, Peggy and Jim married at Star of the Sea Church.
Over the next 18 years, Peggy and Jim brought seven children into the world and lovingly raised them, mainly in Redwood City as part of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (OLMC) parish. All seven attended and graduated from OLMC School. Her six sons graduated from Serra High School in San Mateo. Erin, her sixth child and only daughter, graduated from Mercy, Burlingame.
Peggy loved music and was a skilled pianist and long-time OLMC choir member, but perhaps most importantly, she sang her children to sleep on countless occasions. She also officiated arguments, refereed fights, applied first aid, provided transportation for sports events and field trips, hosted birthday parties, and acted as a den mother. Peggy raised children of service who went into the military, education, and law enforcement.
After the birth of their seventh child, Peggy began her teaching career at St. Elizabeth Seton School in Palo Alto. After a few years there, she taught at OLMC School for twenty years. She applied her time, talent, energy, and experience to benefit more than 600 students. She loved bringing her classes to Caritas Creek Camp and planning Mystery Trips for her 8th-grade students. She took great joy in helping her students write two books, Stained Glass Saints of Mt. Carmel and Chalice: A Most Personal Grail. She retired from teaching in 2014. It is fitting that she died on the feast day of St. John Bosco, patron of teachers.
Peggy was a woman of service and a leader in her community. She tutored Project Read students, hosted numerous Red Cross foreign exchange students and coordinated fundraisers for OLMC's Tanzania Health and Education Mission, the banners in the OLMC rotunda, the Redwood City Historical Association, and the Redwood City Library Commission. Serra High School was near and dear to her heart, and as such, she served on its Board, taught at its summer school, and volunteered in its Library. Along the way, Peggy gained many lifelong friends, like those in the "Sew Whats" and those in her birthday group. One friend captured her essence, sharing, "Peggy was the picture of grace and joy and made people feel like they were home when they were with her."
Peggy was a devout Catholic. In addition to her devotion to Catholic education, she sang in the church choir, was a Eucharistic Minister, taught confirmation classes, enjoyed the galas at St. Patrick's Seminary, and enjoyed a long relationship with the Pauline Sisters after they moved to Redwood City. She was one of the first to sign up for the Sisters' Book Club and enjoyed many interactions with them for 17 years.
In 2016, Peggy was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome. Doctors told her she had 3-5 years, but like a prizefighter, she fought MDS until the end.
Peggy is survived by: her beloved husband, Jim; their seven children Jim (Amy), Mark (Beth), Paul (Carolina), Steve, Christian (Iris), Erin (Juan), and Andrew (Megan); her sixteen grandchildren (Patrick, Sean, Brian, Liam, Cecily, Joseph, Maggie, Michael, Quinn, Matthew, Daniel, Justin, John Paul, Juliana, James, and Molly, and number seventeen on the way); seven great-grandchildren (Alyna, Anayl, Daniel Jr., Amayah, Jayden, Angel and Jayden), and her siblings Ginny and John.
She is already missed, but everyone who knew her knows full well that hers was a life well-lived.
A funeral service in memory of Peggy will be held at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, Redwood City, Ca, on February 22, 2024. The Rosary starts at 4:30 pm and will be followed by a Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at 5:00 pm. Reception will follow in the Large Hall. Interment will be private.
Donations can be made in her memory to Our Lady of Mount Carmel School (https://www.school.mountcarmel.org/support-us/other-ways-to-give.cfm) or Serra High School (https://www.serrahs.com/support-serra/ways-to-give).
Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus Deus in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem. Exaudi orationem meam, ad te omnis caro veniet. Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Amen.