J. Lester Clifford - Coal Miner

Elder J. Lester Clifford, 1912 - 2003

Piedmont, W.Va. Elder J. Lester "Les" Clifford, 90, of 11 Murphy St., Piedmont, died Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2003, at Potomac Valley Hospital. Born March 25, 1912, in Piedmont, he was the son of the late John William and Anna (Washington) Clifford. He was raised by his late aunt, Eliza Washington.

Elder Clifford pastored at the First Church of God in Christ in Keyser and in Piedmont. He worked on the B&O Railroad in the 1920s, also working in the coal mines in Barton. He was then drafted into the Army in 1943, serving in the Philippines and England, during World War II. After the war, he went to work at the paper mill (now NewPage). Having a love for the outdoors, he sincerely enjoyed golfing, fishing and hunting.

Surviving are his wife, Arizona (Redman) Clifford; two sons, Lester Leroy (Skip) Clifford, Arthur P. Clifford, both of Piedmont; three daughters, Rosalie Ann Twyman, Piedmont, Dorothy Marie Lester, Jersey City, .N.J., and Donna Jean Mobley, Philadelphia, Pa.; 15 grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren; and 10 great-great-grandchildren.

Friends will be received at the Fredlock Funeral Home, Piedmont, on Friday from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Funeral services will be conducted at the Trinity Methodist Church, on Saturday at noon with Bishop Henderson Wheeler officiating. Interment will be in Potomac Memorial Gardens, Keyser. Military honors will be accorded at the church.