By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Clifford Williams, owner and operator of Cliff's Pharmacy on Melish Avenue in Avondale for 45 years, died Friday at Summerville Medical Center in Summerville, S.C.

He was 77.

Mr. Williams moved to South Carolina from Cincinnati two years ago to be near his daughter. He had lived in Paddock Hills, then North Avondale, starting in 1954.

Mr. Williams, a Louisville native, enrolled at Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1944 and studied there for two years before joining the Navy.

After his honorable discharge eight years later, he finished his education at the University of Cincinnati College of Pharmacy and opened his own store.

Mr. Williams was also a self-taught artist.

"He was a man of many talents," said his son C. Rhett Williams of Westwood.

Those skills included calligraphy, painting with oil and watercolor, sketching in charcoal and pencil, sculpture, ceramics and carpentry.

Mr. Williams never sold or showed any of his work, but created it for his own pleasure. "He enjoyed it and people around him enjoyed it," his son said.

He was a member of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity and the Hamilton County Pharmaceutical Society.

In addition to his son, survivors include a daughter, Lorraine Powers of Charleston, S.C.; his mother, Virginia Williams of Louisville, 102; three sisters, Mildred Griffin of Louisville, Carolyn McCree of Sudbury, Mass., and Ann Smith of Indiana; and two grandchildren.

Visitation is 10 a.m. Friday, followed by the service at 11 a.m. at J.C. Battle and Sons Funeral Home, 543 Rockdale Ave. Burial will be at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Montgomery.

Memorials: American Red Cross, Cincinnati Area Chapter, 720 Sycamore St., Cincinnati, OH 45202-2185