Clifton M. Dowling Jr.

On May 1, 2018, Clifton M. Dowling, Jr., age 72, peacefully passed away at his home in Bel Air, Maryland. He was the only child of Bernice and Clifton M. Dowling Sr. Clif was an Eagle Scout and a 1963 graduate of Bel Air High School. He attended Grinnell University on a scholarship where he studied International Politics. He then joined the Army and served as an Ammunitions Instructor at Officer Candidate School (OCS). Clif later graduated from UC Berkeley in 1977, where he had an interdisciplinary major in Conservation of Natural Resources. He returned to Bel Air to work with Parks and Recreation, followed by four years with the Bel Air Commission on Aging.

Clif was the Tourism Director with the Harford County Department of Economic Development. During his years there he initiated many events including the Havre de Grace Seafood Festival. When the teachers took over the festival for their scholarship fund, Clif wrote a ‘how to’ guide for them and acted as liaison for their successful run. Clif served on the Boards of: the Susquehanna Symphony, the Aberdeen Centennial Committee, and Harford Senior Housing. Clif loved the environment and served as President of the Susquehannock Environmental Center for many years. He received the Governor’s Citation for the Chesapeake Clean-up Campaign in 1990. He was instrumental in arranging a visit by President Clinton to Havre de Grace for the town’s inaugural Earth Day celebration in 1995. Clif was also a founding member of the Harford County Farm Fair and served on the board until recently. He worked for the Northeast Waste Disposal as a recycling coordinator and received the Recycler of the Year Award in 2001.

Clif had a brilliant mind and a wide range of interests which included trivia, John Prine music, collecting fossils and reminding friends he attended the Woodstock Festival in New York on its opening day. His true passion was American History and politics. Always an Independent Party member, he ran for Harford County Executive in 1970, and in 2002 for a County Council seat. Clif was an advocate for change to help people and the environment.

On the evening before he passed, in the company of friends and family, he (as usual) correctly answered the final question on Jeopardy that the rest of us couldn’t, “Who was Edgar Allen Poe?” Will the world see the likes of Clif again – nevermore.

He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Vicki Vaughn Dowling, daughters Cassandra and Catherine, and two grandson, Liam and Jay.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Attn: Membership Department, 6 Herndon Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21403.