Cliff Clemens dies at 101

Clifton Clemens, one of Sisters leading citizens for decades, died Friday, January 18, just two months shy of his 102nd birthday.

Simply making it to the century mark would have been enough to earn Clemens notice. But Clemens' impact on the Sisters community amounted to much more than simple longevity.

"His goal was, wherever he was, to make it a better place to live," said his son David Clemens, who lives in Sisters.

Clemens and his wife Dorothy moved to Sisters in 1973 and settled on land around the Sisters Airport, which became his passion.

Several years ago, he recalled his first airplane landing at Sisters:

"I was so impressed with the scenery of the area that I made the decision to relocate here," he said.

For years he improved and maintained the airport both as a recreational aviation facility and as an emergency resource for AirLife and wildland firefighters.

Clemens attended the Oregon School of Agriculture (now OSU) where he graduated in 1938 with a degree in Industrial Arts. He and Dorothy moved their family to Wasco, California, where he taught at Wasco Union High School for several years, eventually getting into the construction and development business.

Clemens' background instilled in him a conviction that vocational arts should be a major part of high school education, and he was a vocational arts advocate throughout his 16-year tenure on the Sisters School Board and beyond.

Clemens was serving on the board during the construction of Sisters High School, which opened in 1992. (It is now Sisters Middle School).

In addition to his service on the school board, Clemens was a charter member of the Sisters Kiwanis Club and also served as its first President. The Sisters Area Chamber of Commerce honored him as Citizen of the Year in 1982. The City of Sisters dedicated a park along Larch Street at the north end of town in his honor, calling it Cliff Clemens Park.

David Clemens said activity and involvement were keys to his father's longevity.

"He always was active, doing things, helping other people," Clemens said. "He always said that staying active kept him going."

He kept going into his late 90s, before injuries slowed him down and forced him to relocate to Bend Villa Court for assisted living care.

Even after that move, he was often in Sisters visiting his friends, and he marked his 100th birthday with a big celebration at Sisters Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration.

According to David Clemens, the family has decided to hold a memorial service at Cliff Clemens Park in late spring or early summer, after the Kiwanis Club has made some improvements. The family believes the setting will be appropriate for a celebration of a remarkable life.

"He was a pretty impressive man," David Clemens said. "He was always a good father, tried to treat everyone, family and community, equally. I think the community will miss him."

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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