Doty, Clifford E.
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Clifford E. Doty
EV. CLIFFORD E. DOTY, pastor of
the First Methodist Church, Plymouth, died suddenly Wednesday, February 26, at his home, following a heart
attack.
Mr. Doty was born July 18, 1884, at
Grand Ledge and graduated from Albion College in 1908. He joined the Detroit Conference in 1908 on trial and
was admittea into full membership in
1910. He served the following charges:
Shaftsburg, New Lothrop, Corunna,
Saginaw Warren Avenue, Grayling,
Caro, Bay City First, Saginaw Ames,
Ypsilanti, Owosso First, and Plymouth.
Mr. Doty is survived by his wife, the
former Josie Smith; two sons, Alfred
E . of Saginaw, and Rev. Richard E. of
Schnectady, N.Y.; two brothers, Harrison and Ray of Grand Ledge; a sister,
Miss Mabel Doty of Le Grand, Ore., and
fwo grandchildren.
Funeral services were held in the Plymouth church on Friday, February 27,
at 1:00 P.M., with burial in Oakwood
Cemetery, Grand Ledge.
The following excerpts are taken from
a tribute entitled, "A Man to Match Our
Mountains," prepared by Rev. Wesley
Dudgeon, pastor at Mt. Morris and a
close personal friend of the deceased.
Mr. Dudgeon was scheduled to read the
tribute at the funeral service but was
unable to attend because of illness.
"A man is not thoroughly a man until
he is a great deal more than a man. The
universe may be the same phys ical s ize
for all of us, but it is not the same mental and spiritual size for all. . . . The
world of Clifford Doty was a big world,
of continually expanding horizans, because his was a generous, open, growing
mind. He kept it flexible, ever young, ever
learning. He had a passionate love for
the truth that urged him on to 'ask, seek,
knock' for more and completer truth.
. .. Tarrying only for a night, h e kept on
striking tent in his search for the truth
that will lead to a world where men live
together as brothers, neither wounding
one another in their hate, nor abusing
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heart. His r eligion was not a creed nor
a polity, but a spirit of kindness. In his
scale of values there was not room for
the pushing and elbowing of the placeseeker. Nor was there room for racial
or other bigot1·y or snobbishness. All
men were his brothers. Some things his
s ensitive soul abhorred and nothing more
so than self-seeking in the name of religion, whether for place, emoluments, or
other remuneration . . . . It grieved him
much that anyone was willing to pay
for what he had with all he was .. , .
"He h ad an enormous capacity for
I friendship and for taking delight in
people's lives. He lived simply,
1 other
naturally, spontaneously, and had a
rare gift of making you feel at ease, of
calling forth the best in you . . . . his
heart of feeling made him the kind of
person to whom we naturally turn in
time of trouble, on whose strength we
lean, and from whose fortitude we derive
courage •..•
"His world was as big as the universe,
in which he had a feeling of at-homeness
and in whose laws he believed . . . He
was hurt by the inadequacy of the
church's leadership because in the day
when time is running out for the saving
of the race from extinction, church meetings are held from pre-war viewpoints,
'with no note of crisis, awareness, reasoned faith, nothing but the beating of
the drums for quotas and quotas.' . . .
But through it all his philosophy of life
enabled him to give unsparingly of himself to the last, still seeing a light ahead
in today's deep darkness, at last laying
down his tools without realizing his
great des~re for ~is fellowman, although
he had glimpsed It afar . . . . we rejoice
in the afterglow of his radiant life as
it continues to inspire us to catch up the
colors and to labor earnestly to change
conditions in society so that the law of
love will be P.racticable, and all men shall
be strong to live as well as strong to
think. We are not orphans on the earth
as long as such plus-men as Clifford
Doty live on it.''
MRS. JOSEPlllNE M. DOTY, 84, of
Saginaw died in January, Through an
oversight, this information has just reached the Advocate. Mrs. Doty, the widow of
Rev. Clifford E. Doty, former minister of
Saginaw Ames United Methodist Church,
was born Josephine M. Smith on March
16, 1886, in Grand Ledge where she grew
to womanhood. In 1908 she graduated
from Albion College and married Mr.
Doty. They went to Saginaw in 1928. Mrs.
Doty was a member of the Ames Church,
WSCS, and the Ministers' Wives Association. She was preceded in death by her
husband in 1948 and one son, Richard, in
1965. Survivors include a son, Alfred E.
of Saginaw ; three grandchildren; two
great-grandchildren; a brother, Reuben
Smith of Charlotte; one sister, Mrs.
Geraldine Murchison of Lansing ; and
several nieces and nephews. Funeral
services were held in the Case Chapel,
Saginaw, with Rev. Richard E . Lobb, officiating. Burial was in the Gran'!_ }--edge
Cemetery.
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