Clifford E. Stevens Obituary (1915 - 2012)

Born in East Orange in 1915, Cliff grew up in Glen Ridge, in an era when small boys in knickers still chased after horse-drawn ice wagons. Despite being born with some physical disabilities, he loved sports, and had success in track and field during his high school years. After graduating high school in 1935, Cliff embarked on the great adventure of his life, working his way cross-country with stints as a wheat rancher in Kansas, a gravedigger, and an apple-picker in Washington State. Upon his return, he continued to pursue his interest in farming, including a productive Victory Garden during the war years, and would have gone into farming full-time had economic circumstances permitted. The two great themes in Cliff's life, work and family, came together during this period. His father, Cliff Sr., and his Uncle Les had inherited a small manufacturing business from their father, Charles, and were struggling to make it succeed. Forgoing his dream of becoming a farmer, Cliff joined them. Through his hard work and diligence, assisted after the war by his younger brother Ross, Stevens Products took shape, grew and thrived, and provided a comfortable livelihood for the brothers, their families, and several elderly relatives whom they cared for. Cliff met Summit native Elizabeth (Binkie) Dyer during a summer vacation to Cape Cod with his boyhood friend Hank Spohr, courted her, and brought her back to Glen Ridge to start a family. During those early years, after the birth of their first child Cliff III (Trip), they shared a home on Hillside Avenue with Ross' family on the second floor, and a retired schoolteacher and her parrot in an attic apartment. After the birth of their second child, Marion (Missy), Binkie was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a devastating disease about which little was known at that time. The responsibility of ensuring that his family would be secure should anything happen to him drove Cliff during those years of hard work. In addition to his duties as President of Stevens Products, he tilled gardens and mowed fields with his two tractors, and was frequently seen in Glen Ridge's wintery driveways, plowing snow with his vintage Jeep. In the years following Binkie's death in 1983, Cliff was able to relax a bit, and enjoyed traveling to the Panama Canal, watching the Rose Parade, and going on several rafting adventures with Trip. A few years after Binkie's death, Cliff married Virginia (Ginny) Flick in 1989, but their happiness was not to last; a stomachache on their honeymoon was diagnosed as cancer, and Ginny died nine months later. Like a stubborn rock on a storm-bound coast, Cliff endured this loss, sustained by work and his favorite hobby: going to yard sales, where he bought and restored old tools and searched for corduroy pants for Missy's fiber art. He also made time to visit his children in their far-flung homes, although he never stayed for long. The nineties would also see the birth of Cliff's only grandchild, Trip's daughter Ariana in 1994, and the death of his brother and lifelong business partner, Ross, in 1999. In 2005, after 60 years of hard work and rugged independence, Cliff retired from Stevens Products, sold his interest to his nephew Ross Jr. and moved to Franciscan Oaks in Denville, NJ. With his natural charm and humor, he made many friends there among both residents and staff, and was fortunate to find love for a third time in his life when he met Joann Pease. In the last two years, although frustrated by his diminishing powers and wishing for an end to his physical suffering, he nevertheless remained mentally alert and capable of his familiar humor. On December 27, 2012, a few months after his 97th birthday, he found at last the release he'd been yearning for. He was well loved by many, and will be sorely missed. There will be a memorial gathering at Franciscan Oaks on January 19, 2013 at 11:00 AM, in remembrance of Cliff's life. In lieu of flowers, you may make a donation to The Seeing Eye, in Morristown, NJ.