Westmoreland County PA Archives Obituaries.....Lenz, Clifford  September 28, 2013
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Donald Buncie donaldbuncie@hotmail.com April 24, 2026, 3:39 pm

Latrobe Bulletin Sat Nov 09, 2013
Retired Navy Cmdr. Clifford Lenz, Navy Football Hall Of Famer, War Veteran 
Retired Navy Cmdr. Clifford Lenz, 94, passed away peacefully Sept. 28, 2013, at
Swedish Hospital in Seattle surrounded by members of his family. He had been
residing in Seattle for the past three years to be in the care of his children
as he was coping with dementia.
Cliff was born in Latrobe in 1919, the youngest of 11 children. Gifted with
athletic ability, he entered Latrobe High School at age 13 with the size, speed
and talent to be the starting fullback on the varsity football team as a
freshman. In the course of four years of high school he lettered in football,
track and basketball, being selected to all-conference or all-western
Pennsylvania teams. He held his high school discus record for many years. He was
also an honors student and after receiving several offers to play college
football (from Notre Dame, Duke, Pitt and others) he chose the U. S. Naval
Academy. While attending Bullis, the Academy's prep school, his football prowess
would lead to his selection to the Bullis Athletic Hall of Fame. At the Naval
Academy he continued to excel on the gridiron, being selected to two All-
American teams; he was both a Walter Camp and Grantland Rice All-American. He
also boxed for the academy and once fought in an NCAA tournament refereed by
Jack Dempsey. His athletic ability in football, boxing and track led to his
selection as the outstanding athlete of the Naval Academy Class of 1941. Upon
graduation, he served as a damage control officer on the aircraft carrier
Enterprise in the Pacific. Good fortune shined on him as the Enterprise, which
was scheduled to be in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 6, 1941, was held outside the
islands because of stormy weather. He was to be Officer of the Deck on the
morning of Dec. 7 had the carrier been in port. As a young naval officer he
participated in several of the legendary battles of the war in the Pacific: the
battle of the Coral Sea, the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, Midway, Battle of the
Eastern Solomons and Guadalcanal (where he was wounded, earning a Purple Heart).
He met June Lipke in Honolulu, and they were married stateside in 1943 as he
returned for pilot training. He earned his wings and was about to return to the
Pacific Theatre when the war ended. Post-World War II, he was stationed at the
Pentagon as a member of the staff of the joint chiefs. He commanded a seaplane
squadron at the U. S. Navy base in Trinidad, British West Indies, and later
returned to the Naval Academy where he taught aviation. The mid-1950s found him
on the bridge of the aircraft carrier Hornet as navigator and by the end of the
decade, executive officer of the Amphibious Base Training Schools in Coronado,
Calif. Retiring from the Navy in the early 1960s, he and his wife started what
was to become one of Coronado's most successful gift stores, the Bayberry Tree.
June and Cliff traveled the world harvesting unique artwork and gift items that
made the store a special place to shop. They sold the business in the late 1970s
and spent the next several years traveling, seeing much of the world: the Great
Wall of China, the Trans-Siberian Railway, Africa, India and of course, they
planted a kiss on the Blarney Stone. June passed away in 2008 after 65 years of
marriage to Cliff. Theirs was a true and abiding love story and a story of lives
well-lived, filled with many deep and enduring friendships. Cliff is survived
his son, Cliff Jr. of Seattle; his daughter, Shannon of North Bend, Ore.;
grandsons, Connor and Darren, and great-granddaughter, Kylah, and great-
grandson, Reeve, of Seattle. He was buried with military honors Friday, Nov. 1,
next to June at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery in San Diego. On the occasion
of his 90th birthday, the mayor declared Feb. 21, 2009, "Clifford Lenz Sr. Day"
in Coronado, and in the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium at Annapolis, Md.,
you will find his name inscribed on one of the bricks in the Navy Football Walk
of Fame. 

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