Funeral for former Lawton resident, Clifton Clark, 87, Norman will be at 10:00 AM Saturday at the Becker Funeral Home Memorial Chapel with Jim Hall, pastor of Fletcher Christian Church officiating. Clifton passed away Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at the Brookhaven Assisted Living Center in Norman, Oklahoma. Burial with military honors will be in Sunset Memorial Gardens under the direction of Becker Funeral Home & Cremation Service. Irving Clifton Clark (Cliff) was born September 21, 1924 to Irving Earl Clark and Gladys Gallagher Clark in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He attended grade school and part of junior high in Oklahoma City before his family moved to Lawton in 1938 where he graduated from Lawton High School in 1942. Upon high school graduation, he attended Cameron University until he was drafted into the US Army due to World War II in 1943. Clifton was in the 91st Infantry Division that was deployed to North Africa and was involved in the invasion of Sicily and Italy. He was involved in some of the fiercest fighting of the war where his unit obtained 90 percent casualties. He was also a recipient of the bronze star under fire and the combat infantry badge. After the liberation of Europe and the war's end, he was honorably discharged and returned to Oklahoma. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in music education at Oklahoma University in Norman in 1950. He was in the percussion section of the "Pride" playing the snare drums. He also married Nadine Hanks of Lawton on May 29, 1947 while at OU. Clifton was a band director in the Oklahoma Public School System in Temple, Yukon, Marlow and finally Fairview, 1955-1967. He later received his master's degree in Guidance Counseling from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford. In 1968 he moved his family to Lawton and became a counselor at Eisenhower Junior High School until his retirement in 1987 after serving in the public school systems for 37 years. Upon his retirement, Clifton always loved and continued to follow the Oklahoma Sooners and was forever a devoted and loyal fan. Clifton was a member of "The Greatest Generation" being one of the last few surviving combat soldiers of World War II. Clifton was married to Lynette Tauge Clark until her death in 2007. Clifton was a member of the First Christian Church in Lawton until he moved to Norman in 1991. In Norman, he was a member of the First Christian Church. Clifton is survived by his daughter Stacey and son-in-law, Jim Hatt, of Blanchard and his son Brent Clark of Louisville, KY; 4 grandchildren, Kelly and her husband Lenny Phillips, of Norman and Chris Nikkel and his wife Lauren, of San Antonio, Texas, and Cassandra and Breanna Clark, of Louisville, KY and 2 great grandchildren, Josh and Jordan Phillips, of Norman, OK. Clifton was preceded in death by his mother and father, a sister, Margaret March and his best friend, who he considered to be like a brother, Bill Dixon.