Richard Lawrence Clifford's Obituary
Richard Clifford, 60, of Purcellville, Virginia, a consultant for the World Bank, died unexpectedly April 26 while on business in New Delhi, India.
Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Richard Lawrence Clifford was the son of the late Dr. Joseph Campbell Clifford and Virginia Marie (Harkin) Clifford of Hamden, Connecticut. He graduated in 1969 from the Hopkins School in New Haven, Connecticut and received his B.S.F.S. in 1973 from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. Following university, he received an M.SC. degree in Agricultural Economics in 1974 from Keble College, Oxford University, England. That same year he married Katherine Carey of Newport, Rhode Island and, shortly after finishing graduate school, they joined the Peace Corp together to serve in Nicaragua. They were assigned to the Basic Grains Program, a program designed to raise productivity among small scale farmers, serving for two years. In 1979 he received his MBA from The University of Chicago.
For eight years, beginning in 1979, he served as Financial Officer of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), located in Texcoco, Mexico. In 1988 he joined the World Bank staff as a Budget Officer and in 1991 became the Senior Country Officer to the Latin American Region. He was responsible for coordinating the Bank’s engagement in Nicaragua. In 1993 he transferred to the Infrastructure Division of the Latin America Region as Senior Financial Analyst. He led the preparation and supervision of a large number of housing, infrastructure finance and power projects in Mexico, Guatemala and Nicaragua. In 1996 he moved to the field office in Mexico City to become Sector Leader of Infrastructure. In 2000, he moved to the field office in Moscow as Country Manager where he directed projects including the renovation of the Marinsky theater and the Hermitage museum. In 2005 he moved to the field office in Delhi, India to become the Lead Urban Specialist for the South Asia Region.
In 2010, he retired and began consulting for the World Bank, after a 24 year career there. At the time of his death he was on mission for the India Capacity Building for Urban Development Project as well as consulting for the World Bank on projects in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He is remembered by his colleagues and friends as knowledgable, generous, calm, loyal, understated and committed with a great sense of humor.
Aside from all his professional attainments, he was happiest at home, with his family or working in the garden. After retirement, he and his wife lived at a family cottage in Inch, County Kerry, Ireland.
Mr. Clifford is survived by his widow, Katherine Carey Clifford, of Purcellville, Virginia, their children Patrick Dillion Clifford and his wife Anna Willett Clifford, of Richmond, Virginia, Matthew Bric Clifford of Purcellville, Virginia and Jane Sarah Clifford of London, England. He is also survived by his sister Mary Elizabeth Clifford of The District, his brother Stephen Campbell Clifford and wife Geetha Mathew Clifford of Alexandria, Virginia and his favorite aunt, Elizabeth Russell Harkin of Wallingford, Connecticut, as well as many nieces, nephews, cousins, in-laws, friends and colleagues scattered across the globe.
A visitation will be held on Friday, May 4, 2012 from 6 to 9 pm at the Loudoun Funeral Chapel, 158 Catoctin Circle, SE, Leesburg, VA. A funeral Mass will be held on Saturday, May 5, 2012 at 11 am at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 37018 Glendale Street, Purcellville, VA 20134.
Interment will be held privately at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests the memorial donations be made to Bernice Van Bronkhorst.
Please make checks payable to Bernice Van Bronkhorst and mail them to
Bernice Van Bronkhorst
MSN MC10-1002
The World Bank
1818 H st. NW
Washington DC 20433
USA
Please include a memo line that reads: Richard Clifford Memorial
Memorial donations will be made to the Gram Vikas Organization in Richard's name. This charity serves the most needy of people in rural India by providing the most basic of human needs including clean water, toilets, and education to the slum dwellers of that city. Richard worked in development for over thirty years, starting his career as a Peace Corps volunteer and ending it while on mission in India. We are confident that we represent his wishes with this request.
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