Eugenia M. “Jean” (Murphy) Clifford, age 92, of North Easton, formerly of Brockton and Duxbury, joined her beloved husband and two eldest sons on Thursday, February 13, 2014. She was the wife of the late Robert E. “Sandy” Clifford. Born in Brockton, she was the daughter of the late Joseph M. and Evelyn (Ryan) Murphy. She was a graduate of Brockton High School, class of 1938, and attended Boston University. On June 5, 1943 she married Sandy in California where he was serving in the United States Navy with the Seabees. Four weeks later he shipped out for two years service in the Pacific.
While her husband was away during World War II, she served as a volunteer Red Cross aide at the Brockton Hospital and Camp Myles Standish, and was an instructor at the Brockton Academy of Beauty Culture. She was an avid equestrian who stabled her horse Judy at Briggs Stables in Hanover. When her husband returned from the war, he attended and graduated from Boston University. They settled in Brockton where they raised five children and were communicants at St. Colman Church.
At age 56 when her children were grown, she achieved her lifelong ambition of working in the medical profession when she earned her nursing license. She worked at the Braintree Rehabilitation Hospital and for Project Head Start for over a dozen years.
When she and her husband retired, they moved to Duxbury where they had summered for many years and were communicants at Our Lady of the Assumption Church. They both became advocates for the mentally ill in the early 1980s, joining the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill. They were also members of the Human Rights Advisory Committee, Plymouth Site Area Board, and Southeastern Area Board, as well as serving as monitors and Trustees for Taunton State Hospital. She also spoke twice on behalf of the mentally ill in front of the State Legislature.
Eventually, she moved to North Easton where she made her home for the past 14 years with her son Michael and his wife Winnifred and their children.
She is survived by her son, Michael L. Clifford, her daughters Patricia Zibelli and Elizabeth Clifford-Higginbotham, and many beloved grandchildren, nieces and nephews. She was the mother of the late R. Daniel Clifford and Stephen J. Clifford, and sister of the late Joseph W. Murphy.
Visiting Hours will be held in the Conley Funeral Home, 138 Belmont Street (Rte 123) Brockton, Sunday 3-6pm. The funeral procession will gather at the funeral home Monday at 9:30am for a funeral mass in Christ the King Parish at 10:30am. Burial in Calvary Cemetery. Donations in Jean’s name may be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Society at Christ the King Parish, 42 Wendell Avenue, Brockton, MA 02302.