Nathaniel S. Clifford, Jr. ’54 died on May 25, 2022, in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

(The following was provided by the Hobbs Funeral Home on May 25, 2022)

Nathaniel S. Clifford, Jr. ’54

Cape Elizabeth, Maine – Nathaniel (Nat) Clifford, 90, beloved husband, father and grandfather passed away on May 25, 2022, following a stroke. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1932 to Jeanette Hume Clifford and Nathaniel Stone Clifford, and spent his early childhood there. After his father was lost in WWII, his mother remarried and the rest of his upbringing was split between Boston and Cape Elizabeth, Maine. He attended Bowdoin College and Boston University where he graduated with a degree in economics, and was honorably discharged from the US Navy after serving as a radarman on the USS Lake Champlain.

Nat worked briefly for Bendix, was sole proprietor of Clifford Construction, and later an independent consultant for the Portland Water District, the City of New York, and other municipalities as well as private clients. He married Greta Gould in 1956 and they lived briefly in Boston and Glenrock, NJ, before moving to Cape Elizabeth in 1960. Nat and Greta had two children, Nathaniel and Elizabeth. After Greta passed, he married Marcia F. Brown in 1999. They remained at Breakwater Farm, hosted family visits, and travelled extensively, including their favorite island of Anguilla each winter. Nat was a generous and loving man who will be remembered for his long and wide-ranging community and volunteer activities, as co-founder and twenty-five-year member of the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust, volunteer with the Cape Elizabeth Police Reserve, and member of the Cape Elizabeth Conservation Commission, the South Portland Rotary Club, and the Audubon Society. A lover of all animals, Nat assisted with transport and release of rehabilitated wild birds for Avian Haven and other organizations and adopted horses and other animals from the Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals. He was an unflagging supporter of Marcia’s poetry community who all looked forward to his cheerful presence at local events. Nat had a wide range of interests and it seemed he could do or fix anything while always having fun. Build a race car. Build a dune buggy. Put an addition on the house. Blow up a race car. Build a toboggan chute. Fly a plane. Charter a boat. Race a boat. Put on a major fireworks display for the town. His enthusiasm for life was infectious.

Nat will be greatly missed by Marcia, his children, Nathaniel S. Clifford III (Alexa) of Belfast, ME, and Elizabeth (Lissa) Robinson (William) of Falmouth, ME; and grandchildren William and Elias Robinson and Nathaniel IV and Hartley Clifford; his siblings, nieces, nephews, family members, and many, many friends. Nat will be remembered for his innate positive outlook, storytelling, and gentlemanly charm.