Cliff Wright
February 3, 1950 – April 15, 2025
Cliff Wright, age 75, passed away on April 15, 2025 in Bellingham, WA, due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
Cliff was born Clifford Ramsey Wright III in New Haven, CT on February 3, 1950. He went by “C three” or more often just “C”, preferring it over the stiff sound of his full name. In high school, he started going by Cliff.
Cliff was the oldest of five—four boys and a girl. His parents were from Ohio, but they moved west when the children were young in pursuit of better weather, hoping to assuage the poor health of Cliff’s father and sister. They lived briefly in Arizona and then settled in Santa Barbara, California in 1959.
As a child of the ‘50s, Cliff was passionate about all manner of romantic characters and adventure stories. He and his brothers played the three musketeers, and Cliff created and sewed the costumes. He grew up in still undeveloped Phoenix and a home adjacent to wilderness in Santa Barbara; this precipitated a lifelong love of the outdoors. At home there was lots of room for pets: the Wright family had dogs, cats, chickens, goats and even a horse or two.
As a student, Cliff connected with the counterculture and civil rights movements of the mid ‘60s. Cliff wore secondhand clothes and tried hard to minimize his environmental footprint, which he continued to do throughout his life. He attended boarding school at Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, and always cherished his time there. Cliff returned to California for college, studying Literature at UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine. He studied abroad for a year in France, where he traveled the countryside in an old Deux Chevaux, fell for a French woman, and visited with his Uncle Paulo, Aunt Cuchi, and cousin Carla. Cliff returned to the US fluent in French and full of stories. He graduated from university and found his way to his brother’s basement in Berkeley.
Cliff completed a master’s degree in economics at San Francisco State University, where he met his future wife, Margaret Boyle. Cliff and Margaret got married near Cliff’s parents’ house at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Montecito, CA on April 12, 1980. Cliff found a job with the Southern Pacific Railroad, his first in what would become a career in the transportation and shipping industry. He and Margaret settled in together in their first home in Oakland, CA.
Cliff and Margaret gave birth to their son, Charlie, in 1984 and their daughter, Catherine in 1988. He was a doting and fun father, who enjoyed playing with his kids. He coached their soccer teams, attended their other sports events, helped with homework, and cooked family meals. Cliff also loved dogs and took care of the family dogs, Tasha and Maxi, enjoying going for long walks in the forest preserve.
Work took Cliff and Margaret to the Chicago suburbs and later to the Seattle suburbs. As Cliff neared retirement, he volunteered at a community college, tutoring students on essay writing. He also practiced Zen Buddhism, which he had been interested in since he was a teenager. Cliff meditated daily, attended dharma talks and participated in a study group on the eightfold path.
In 2012, Cliff and Margaret separated and he went back to Santa Barbara to take care of his father during the end of his father’s life. In Santa Barbara, Cliff reconnected with Katharine Gring, who had attended the same elementary school as he did. They hit it off, sharing a love of poetry, hiking, and quiet contemplation. In 2015, Cliff and Katharine moved to Bellingham, WA; they loved the forests of the Pacific Northwest.
In 2017, Cliff was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Aphasia, a type of dementia that starts with word loss. His family had been noticing signs of cognitive decline for years.
Throughout his long battle with dementia, Cliff’s generous and kind spirit shone through. He lived near Peace Health Hospital in Bellingham, and whenever a medical helicopter flew overhead to land at the hospital, Cliff would pause and say a serenity prayer for the person in the helicopter. All of his caregivers felt attached to him and could feel that he was gentle, kind and playful, even after he was unable to communicate verbally. Cliff died of complications due to his dementia on April 15, 2025, surrounded by his loving sister, son, daughter, and girlfriend.
Though human composting did not exist at the time of Cliff’s diagnosis when he discussed his end of life wishes with his children, he did ask for a green burial. We chose to compost Cliff’s body with Recompose, knowing he would have appreciated doing something for the environment as his final act.
Cliff is survived by: his beloved partner Katharine Gring; his former wife Margaret Boyle; his son, Charlie Wright (Hannah Swaim); his daughter, Catherine Smithwright (Evan Smith); his two grandsons, Caleb Clifford Smithwright and Ernest Clifford Wright; his four siblings, Moe Wright (Becky Wright), Glen Wright (Tina Wright), King Wright (Nancy Wright) and Kathy Sundown; four nieces (Tammie, Chekota, Vanessa, Delilah), five nephews (Ramsey, Wesley, Clifford, Sam, Peter), two grand-nieces (Bella and Stella) and five grand-nephews (Collin, Everett, Bodin, Grayson, Jacob Jameson). Cliff is preceded in his death by his parents, Clifford Ramsey Wright Jr. and Eleanor White Wright, his former brother-in-law Cheyenne Sundown, and his niece Sarah Angela Wright.
Cliff will be remembered for his thoughtfulness, his patience, and his great empathy. May he rest in peace. We love you, C / Dad / Cliff.