RETIRED Brisbane priest Fr Ellis Clifford will be remembered as a loyal friend and a true priest of the people at a funeral Mass at St Stephen’s Cathedral this Wednesday.
Fr Clifford died last Thursday after a long illness.
One of the priests closest to him was only a few years into his ministry – Fr Josh Whitehead from Caloundra parish.
Fr Whitehead met Fr Clifford when he entered Canali House to discern the priesthood more than 10 years ago.
It was part of a mentoring program set up by Vocations Brisbane.
Fr Whitehead said they were an “odd pairing”.
They didn’t share any of the same interests, but they became close mates quickly.
Fr Clifford loved nothing more than sitting down for a meal with someone, he said, and those were his fondest memories with him.
“He was really hospitable; he welcomed you into his home, even in his later years when his mobility was suffering, he still wanted to be the host,” he said.
“It really says a lot about his disposition – hospitality and generosity.
“He lived that out so visibly.”
Part of that was because he was a country boy, he said.
Fr Clifford was born in Mundubbera in 1942.
“He was old school, a real salt of the earth kind of guy, like you might expect a real country person to be,” Fr Whitehead said.
“He’d correct me on my English to no end; you couldn’t say ‘no worries’ or ‘sweet as’, … he was keen on the Queen’s English.
“With that, there was an old school politeness and that side by side with gentleness.”
Fr Whitehead admired his deep humility too.
“John the Baptist comes to mind – ‘I must decrease so He can increase’, John talking about Jesus and that was Ellis,” he said.
“He never sought to step into the limelight, he was just happy being the background serving and using his gifts to be the priest God had called him to be.”
Fr Whitehead said Fr Clifford was a priest of the people.
“He knew everyone in the Boonah parish for example,” he said.
Fr Whitehead said he admired how Fr Clifford could point to houses in his old parishes and say who lived in which house and all about them and their family.
“He was a true shepherd,” he said.
“That was a strength – it wasn’t teacher, or apostle, or evangelist – it was shepherd.”
He also admired Fr Clifford’s “unwavering faith”.
Fr Whitehead said Fr Clifford carried tremendous burdens of ill health and never once questioned his faith.
He prayed the Divine Office until he couldn’t pick up his book anymore, and then he started to use his iPad.
Other priests in the diocese who served alongside Fr Clifford like Fr Clem Hodge said he was a gracious man.
“He was very loyal to his friends,” he said.
“He was a beautiful person, we’re going to miss him.”
Fr Clifford was one of three children born to Cornelius Clifford and Lexie Clifford, and a brother to the late Neville and Tim Clifford .
In his early career, Fr Clifford trained as a teacher and spent 12 years in Africa.
He returned in 1972 and entered the seminary in Perth before transferring to Brisbane.
He was ordained on August 30, 1985, at the Sacred Heart Church in Sandgate.
His first appointments as an assistant priest were in Ipswich and Stafford.
His first parish priest appointment began at St Joseph’s Parish in Murgon in 1989 where he spent seven and a half years before moving to the Manly Parish for two years and finally Boonah for 12 years.
Fr Clifford retired from priesthood in 2011 due to ill health.
His funeral Mass will be held on Wednesday at 10am, livestreamed from the cathedral via http://archbne.org/bzw
