He was born February 14, 1923 in Freemont NY, to the late Albert and Catherine (Brown) Brown. He was an honorary graduate of Andover Central School. A lifelong resident of Western New York, Cliff was raised by his older sister, Lillian Carlin. He worked on area farms from the age of seven, to help support the family. Cliff served in the US Army Aircorp, 394th Bomb Squadron as an Airplane Armorer Gunner in the East Indies, New Guinea and the Southern Philippines. Cliff worked in the local oil fields for Bradley Producing Corporation for over 25 years. When Bradley's cut back oil production, he attended Man Power Training, becoming a welder. He worked at Air Preheater for twenty years, first on the floor, then in the welding lab, followed by years of travel for Air Preheater.
Some things you might not have known about Cliff: he was a competitive archer, traveling weekends with his brother Al, competing in archery tournaments all over NY and northern PA. Cliff had dozens of trophies and medals for his first place finishes. He crafted his own arrows, which he used in competition and for hunting. An avid hunter, he successfully bagged deer using bow and arrow, shotgun and black powder. His family benefitted from his marksmanship, enjoying all types of small and large game. He reloaded his own shells and was a gun collector. He made his own patterns, once making a buck skin shirt out of one of his deer hides. All the children wore that shirt more than once!! It was beautiful! After retirement, he became an accomplished golfer. A self taught jeweler, he made many, many beautiful pieces for those he loved. His soldering ability remains a marvel. Cliff really disliked his middle name-many discussions revolved around this!!
On July 16, 1942, he married Evelyn (Pat) Stocum, who predeceased him. They were married for 53 years, prior to her passing October 28, 1994. Cliff and Pat had children living in their home 49 of the 53 years of their married life. Cliff was predeceased by his parents, a son, Scott in 1992; his brothers, Donald and Albert; sisters, Lillian Carlin, Bertha Stephens.
Cliff is survived by his children: Clifford "Sandy" (Betty Ann) Brown of NC; Catherine (Robert) Phelps of Florida; Pamela (Michael) Iven of Cape Cod. Cliff is also survived by the three grand children that he and Pat raised: Marlene Elliott Brown of Florida, with whom he was living; Robert (Cheri) Elliott of Florida, and Bryan (Jill) Elliott of England. Cliff is also survived by a total of nine grandchildren, nine great grandchildren; one great-great granddaughter; several nieces, nephews and cousins.
Friends are invited to call on Thursday, April 19th from 7:00 to 9:00 pm at the J. W. Embser Sons Funeral Home Inc., 34 W. State Street in Wellsville. The funeral will be Friday at 11:00 am in the funeral home with Cliff's son, Reverend Clifford A. Brown presiding. Burial will be in Knights Creek Cemetery in Scio. In lieu of flowers, donations in Cliff's name may be made to: Covenant House; 5907 Berry Hill Road; Milton FL 32570. To leave online condolences, please visit www.embserfuneralhome.com.
I was sorry to learn that Cousin Clifford had passed away. His descendants are encouraged to contact me, Perry Streeter, via perry@streeter.com, for updates on our common ancestry.
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