Helping the Community Learn to Fly
By Gary S. Hatrick
At the turn of the century, Zephyrhills was beginning to grow into the city that it is today. It was still very much a retirement community. The heaviness of traffic depended upon the time of year. There were still many orange groves, and dairy farms were also prevalent.
Cell phones were not ubiquitous, and smartphones were still science fiction. Adults were still having a hard time programming CD players, if not their VCRs, and Blockbuster was at least a weekly visit. Digital cameras were recently introduced, and not everyone had a camera in their pocket. Getting on the Internet required enduring harsh squealing, and social media was not the hometown newspaper.
In 1997, a man came into this laid-back community who would help guide and change the community in ways that still impact it today. It has been about 15 years since he stepped out of the position of a public servant. He is still remembered as the Honorable Mayor Cliff McDuffie.
McDuffie, 91, was born in Climax, Georgia, a small town outside Bainbridge, Georgia. When he was not yet one year old, his parents moved the family to Tampa, where he grew up. It was wartime when he grew up. He remembers finding tin cans to use as admission to the movies that would be recycled for war efforts. Living amid military airfields, he would see the planes flying overhead. He recalls seeing his first B-29 Superfortress from his schoolyard.
After high school, he sought to attend college at the University of Tennessee while working for his uncle (who had trained fighter pilots in the service) at a food company. At the time, however, the academic life was not for him, so he returned home.
The Korean War was raging at the time. and so, expecting to be drafted, he decided to take hold of his destiny and volunteer. He approached the Navy because he wanted to fly and hoped to become a Navy pilot. He is not certain where that desire originated, whether it was the planes flying overhead in his youth or the stories heard from his uncle in Tennessee, but he knew he wanted to fly a Corsair. Finding that the waiting list for pilot training was at least a year, he turned to the Army.
"I heard about this organization within the military called the Security Agency, so I went down and signed up for the Army Security Agency. I was signed to the National Security Agency outside of Washington for my whole tour. I was there with a pass the whole time," He said with a grin. "I never had a bullet fired. I thank God for that."
He never did fly, but he said it is still in the back of his mind that one day he ought to do that, though he chuckles that the "one days" left are dwindling.
As life went on, he married and had two children, Trey and Michael. He also has three grandchildren. He worked as an assistant Vice President at Exchange National Bank of Tampa, finally finding himself at the Tampa Chamber of Commerce, where he would remain for 20 years and retire. But he was not done by a long shot.
He applied for a job as Executive Director at the Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce. In the meantime, he had divorced and was looking for a home, and decided to settle in Zephyrhills, then the job came through.
It was 1997, and the Chamber of Commerce was located in a small building at the corner of 5th Ave. and 7th St. At the time, the Chamber of Commerce did little more than hand out pamphlets. He knew that would not do.
McDuffie went to work finding another home for the Chamber where the organization could serve the business community and the community at large as it should. The current location at 38550 5th Ave. is the place he found. He supervised the renovation of the building as well as the rewriting of the bylaws.
He began the Chamber Student of the Month program, which still runs today. He founded an Economic Development Committee, the forerunner of the City-wide Zephyrhills Economic Development Coalition. He took the low-key Annual Chamber Banquet and made it into a significant annual event. He made the Chamber vital in Zephyrhills, to the people, the kids, and to businesses.
"When you want to get people involved, you give them something to be involved about," he said.
McDuffie would serve as the Executive Director of the Zephyrhills Chamber of Commerce for seven years, but he didn't stop there.
"All my life, I wanted to be an elected official," McDuffie said. "I don't know why. Maybe because I'm a community-minded person and, and I think when you get to that position, you can see what the community needs, whether the community sees it or not. I wanted to be an elected official," he emphasized, "not a politician."
First, he made an unsuccessful run for city council, but in 2002, he ran for mayor and won. He would win again and again for the next four terms. Only one person ever ran against him. In 2004, he resigned from the Zephyrhills Chamber.
He was known as a very hands-on mayor. He served on county committees and was always looking out for the betterment of Zephyrhills. He was the first mayor in Zephyrhills for many years to show that the mayoral position was not just a baby-kissing job, even if he does not have a vote on the council. He did this by announcing that he would use his power of veto if the city council voted to raise the city millage rate during the economic crisis of 2007. Faced with his resolve, they did not do it.
In 2001, just before he was elected mayor, he married Joyce Burton Hatfield. They were together until she passed away last year. He became a certified caregiver so he could take care of her for the last few years of her life.
McDuffie has many interests. He is a collector of knives, gargoyles, and he is an avid photographer as well as a poet and writer. He has two books published, which are available on Amazon: "The Wellbourne Papers" and "Emma Street." His books are based on his life, and he is considering publishing a book on how to be a proper caregiver, taken from his experiences with Joyce.
McDuffie is also very interested in his Scottish heritage. A member of the Clan MacFie, he has often been seen sporting full formal Highland dress with kilt, sporran. tam o'shanter, Prince Charlie jacket and all. He was instrumental in helping support the Celtic Festival and Highland Games, which was a major event for about 10 years, and continues to attend such events when he can.
On to new adventures, McDuffie has married again. His new wife Cho is from the Philippines. She and her husband were good friends with McDuffie and Joyce for many years. After she lost her husband and McDuffie lost Joyce, they decided to do life together. This new chapter may take him to the Philippines.
Who knows what to expect next. Perhaps we'd better keep an eye out for new Filipino officials.
