No services for Corinne W. Cluff, 91, Lawrence, KS are planned at this time. She died Tuesday October 25, 2016, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital due to complications from a hip fracture.
Corinne was born April 4, 1925, in Williamson, WV, the daughter of Howard and Rita (Alley) Wolford. She and her three siblings were raised mainly by her hard working and industrious mother who instilled in Corinne a life ethic and perspective that made her a joy to be around. She truly appreciated her life and all the wonderful people in it.
She graduated from Williamson High School and followed an older sister to Washington DC where in 1943 she joined the vibrant wartime workforce as a secretary in the Office of Price Administration. She soon became an integral part of issuing gas ration cards, and frustrated many a dignitary when she would not give them special treatment. This came to the attention of Administrator Chester Bowles who eventually made her his personal secretary. In 1946 Corinne moved to the Pentagon to become secretary to Vannevar Bush, the Administrator of the Office of Scientific Research and Development. He hired her, he said, “because she was the one with the happy smile.”
Corinne married Norman A. Cluff, Sr. on October 15, 1949 in Washington DC. He preceded her in death in 2010 after 61 years of marriage. The couple began married life in Washington DC but moved to St. Louis in 1952 in connection with Norman’s job with the Department of Defense. Corinne became a happy homemaker, raising two sons. She was a great cook and an excellent seamstress. Norman retired in 1973 and the couple eventually settled in St. Petersburg, Florida where they lived for 28 years at Winston Park NE. During that time the sociable couple developed an extensive group of close friends and engaged in world-wide travel, visiting most of the continents and all states but Alaska. Corinne and Norman moved to Lawrence in 2010 to be closer to their sons.
Survivors include two sons, Norman Cluff, Jr. and his wife Connie, Lawrence, and William (Bill) Cluff, St. Louis, MO; five grandchildren, Livia Erschen and her husband Jake, St. Louis; Will Cluff and his wife Kristy, Shawnee, KS, Tom Cluff and his wife Lindsay, New York, NY, Dan Cluff, St. Louis, and Sarah Cluff, St. Louis; four great-grandchildren, Cameron, Tommy and Natalie Erschen, St. Louis, and Kellan Cluff, Shawnee.
She is preceded in death by sisters Leota Charles and Roberta Charles, and brother Bob Wolford.
Those of us whose lives Corinne shaped will be eternally grateful for her unwavering devotion and loving passion for our well-being. For those of us whose lives she touched, her fierce yet gentle, proud yet humble zest for life will be part of our hearts forever.
