TR's Mom

I drove all the way home yesterday--about 13 hours--from just south of Louisville.  I stopped at one winery just inside the TN border, thought I'd stop at more, but the need to be home just overtook me.  I got a pre-wrapped sandwich at a gas station and ate two bags of Goldfish on the way...drank a lot of Coke Zero and water and pull into the driveway here and just about 10:00.  TR knew I was coming because we talked at about 7 when I was three hours out--he was surprised that I was going to come on in.

Today he shared with me the written copy of the biography of his mom's life as read at the funeral.  It is put together from things she wrote at various times in her life as well as recollections of her sons.  The time of writing jumps around--I will try to even it out somewhat, but I will not mess with her writing--it is in quotation marks.  The additions by one or another of the sons are in bold print and I will be adding some comments in italics because it is some pretty important things were left out.  I'm sharing it because she lead one interesting life that kind of reads like a page out of American and Californian history:

In order to trace the history of any one person, the best source of information is that person.  Here then is the history of Lydia Clifton in her own words...

     "I was born February 2, 1922, in Russelville, Alabama.  I was the second daughter of Fernando and Fannie (King) Whitlock who were married in Russelville in 1911.
     "I joined a family of one daughter, Oree, the oldest, and four brothers: James, Fred, Ed, and Henry.  Though my parents had a daughter, they were glad to see another girl come along after the four boys.  My younger brother, Wallace, joined the family three years after I was born.
     "About all I know about my grandparents is that they were all from the South, their surnames being Whitlock, Jefferson, Yoachim, and King."

The exodus which eventually led to Lydia being a California resident began in 1933 when the family left Russelville.  Because Lydia's mother had family in Oklahoma, the Whitlocks, and, without Oree who had married and remained in Alabama, moved to the town of Lawton, Oklahoma, near historic Fort Sill Army base.
But Oklahoma was not to be her home for long.  The famous drought which ravaged the Great Plains in the mid-30's had turned once productive farmland into what became known as the 'Dust Bowl.'  So, after a few years in Lawton, the Whitlock family moved on.

     "My mother had a sister and brother-in-law living in Greenfield, California, working for a fellow named Verne Stebbins.  So we packed up a Model A Ford, and pulling a trailer, we headed west to California, like so many other Midwesterners of that time.
     "Years later the Stebbins family teased us, saying it looked to them like they were being invaded!
     "But we were just joining the great human exodus, all in search of a better life.  We arrived looking like some of the photographs you have see in the Grapes of Wrath.  This was the period of time written about by John Steinbeck, the famous native son of Salinas."

During this time, another family joined that Exodus, bringing another child named Tom Clifton from Oklahoma, also fleeing the 'Dust Bowl.'

Now a resident of Greenfield, Lydia involved herself in the town which would become her permanent home.  She writes of her earlier years in the small agricultural town in the Salinas Valley:

     "I was 14 years old when I started high school in King City in 1937.  It was during this time that I met a very handsome young man by the name of Tom Clifton.  It must have been love at first sight because, before I was even graduated, we were married.  That was in 1939.

     During the war years we had two sons, Tom, Jr. and Jim.  About ten ears later another son, David, joined our family."

Lydia Whitlock, now Lydia Clifton, set about the tasks of a wife and mother.  It was during these early years of marriage that she and husband Tom began those activities which rooted them in the society of Greenfield.

     "At that time, during the war years, Tom was foreman for the Foster Ranches.  The manager was a fellow by the name of Bob Wood and Tom and I became close friends with Bob and his wife Betsy."

Lydia and Tom were still close to Betsy, for over 50 years.  Not one to just sit at home, Lydia has always been a worker, both for others and with her husband.

     "Some of the places I've worked over the years have been for the phone company when it was located in the old stone house on Main Street, for Elwood and Shirley Hutchinson in their restaurant known as 'The Fountain,' and for twelve years for Norbert 'Tiny' Gilles at 'Tiny's Market.'
     "When Tom decided he wanted to go into business for himself and needed me, I quit my job and together we started Clifton Trucking.  Some time later, we developed some property we owned and established Clifton's Mobile Manor, Greenfield's largest mobile home park.
     "At the present time, (I don't know when she wrote this) we are enlarging Clifton's Market, site of the old Atlantic Richfield gas station.
     "Also during these years I served as secretary of the Greenfield Chamber of Commerce, this during the period when Earl Cassatt and Micky Gilles were presidents."

It was probably also about this time that Tom Clifton, TR's dad, served as Mayor of Greenfield.  There is a street named for him in Greenfield.

The years have been good to Lydia and Tom Clifton and they have seen their family grow:

     "We have three grandchildren, Tammie Jones of Modesto, Julie Clifton of Pleasanton and Richard Clifton of Greenfield.  Richard and his wife Arlene are the parents of our two great-grandchildren, Rachel and Thomas Paul."  In February of 1994, another great-grandchild, Samatha, was born to Tammy and her husband in Modesto.  And, only four years ago, a great-great, Audrey was born to Rachel and her husband in Phoenix, AZ.

Then, in retirement, Lydia and Tom enjoyed the fruits of their labors and led an active life, travel being one of their favorite pastimes.

     "We have traveled some in the past ten years.  Our journeys have taken us to some wide ranging places, from Europe to the Vancouver World's Fair, and from fall foliage tours in the New England states to Hawaii.
     "Most of these trips are with the Silver Kings and Queens, a seniors club we have membership in as well as with our travel trailer group.  and last year I spent ten days in Alabama with my sister and her family.  She and I are the only surviving members of my immediate family."

In typical quiet fashion, Lydia Clifton sums up her experiences in the town she and her husband helped build with the following words:

     "I feel fortunate to have lived in Greenfield during its formative years."

Actually, it is the town which should consider itself fortunate to have been the place this girl from Alabama has chosen to call home for over 50 years.