Lasting Memories

Lee Ann Cliff
1923-Nov. 13, 2007
Palo Alto, California

Lee Ann Cliff, 84, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, died at home Nov. 13.

She was born to Erma and Ned Bocco of Grand Rapids, Mich., and grew up in Michigan and Indiana.

She served in the U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service) and then moved to California to attend college.

She obtained bachelor's and master's degrees from San Jose State University, where she met her future husband Frank Cliff. In 1950, they married and moved to Palo Alto.

She worked as a teacher at Ortega School and Barron Park Elementary School, and later earned her marriage and family counseling license.

She volunteered in congressman Pete McClosky's office, at the Bill Wilson House as a counselor for homeless youth and at Fairmeadow Elementary School as a teacher's aide.

She was an avid newspaper reader, loved to laugh, knit and play the piano, and enjoyed taking her friends out to lunch.

She especially loved animals of all kinds. Family members recall that she once kept a pet owl.

She is survived by her husband, retired Superior Court judge Frank Benjamin Cliff of Palo Alto; son, David Ryan Cliff of Palo Alto; daughter, Kelly Ann Elizabeth Cliff of Maui, Hawaii; and granddaughter, Megan Cliff of Palo Alto.