MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Clifford L. Jones, Mechanicsburg, passed away on Wednesday, May 7, 2008, in his home in after a long battle with prostate cancer. He was 80.

Born on Dec. 31, 1927, in Sharon, Mr. Jones was the son of the late James Boynton and Hazel McCracken Jones.

He began his long and amazing professional career working for the Boy Scouts of America in New Castle and came to Harrisburg from the Can Do Industrial Development Group of Hazleton.

He had a long and serendipitous career of public service in Pennsylvania, serving six governors in cabinet positions as Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor and Industry and Secretary of Environmental Resources. He also served as chairman and member of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission.

He was president of Pennsylvanians for Effective Government and retired as president of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry. He served twice as transition president for the Capital Region Economic Development Corporation (CREDC), and served as the transitional executive director of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.

He had been adjunct professor at Messiah College and Penn State University and conducted seminars and lectures in public policy at the Republic of Georgia Institute of Public Affairs. He served as co-chair of the Governor‘s Brac Pac under Governor Ridge and Governor Schweiker and for Governor Rendell. He was appointed by Governor Schweiker as transitional director of the Governor’s Action Team for Economic Development and continued in that capacity for the Rendell administration.

He also served multiple advisory boards and commissions, in nonprofit areas of health, culture and education. Among them are the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority, Ecumenical Community and Modern Transit Partnership, to list a few.

His passion for conservation and nature was reflected in his many volunteer activities in his area. He served on the Hawk Mountain Association Board for several decades, creating and leading a campaign to fund the visitor center, an intern program and the Acopian Research Center. He also served as a board member for the Nature Conservancy of PA, the Wild Resources Conservation Fund, the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Pennsylvania Wildlife Federation, Pennsylvania Audubon Society and the Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation, an organization he helped to create.

He received numerous awards and recognitions including four honorary doctoral degrees from Westminster College, New Wilmington, his alma mater; Thiel College, Greenville; Moravian College; and Susquehanna University, who presented him with an honorary Doctor of Public Service in May of 2007.

He also received community and state awards from Pennsylvania Association of Water Companies, CREDC, B’Nai B’Rith, the Diabetes Association, Boy Scouts of America, The Pennsylvania Society, 2006 Distinguished Citizen of the Commonwealth, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, 2006 Catalyst Award, the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal, 2006, the Penn State Harrisburg, Presidents Award 2006, the Central Pennsylvania Conservancy, 2006 Conservationist of the Year, the Messiah College, 2007 Alumni Appreciation Award. 

An avid bird watcher, Cliff traveled to 55 countries and all seven continents. His life list of birds for North America totals more than 700 and his world list includes more than 3,800 species. He and his wife Carole have traveled to more than 30 countries during the past nine years, pursuing his lifelong hobby.

Cliff’s desire to help people manifested in many ways throughout his lifetime. Always wanting to be useful and productive, he was involved in bringing several Vietnamese families to the Harrisburg area during the 1970s and was instrumental in helping them make this area their home for generations to come.

As a visiting professor to the Republic of Georgia, he and his wife, Carole, established several internships in the Harrisburg area for promising international students they met. After recently visiting Africa, he and Carole also helped establish a fund to help Maasai widows in Kenya.

He was preceded in death in 1998 by his first wife, Jean Quivey Jones.

He leaves behind in celebration of his life: his wife, Carole Davidson Jones, Mechanicsburg; his daughter, Nancy Jones, Fargo, N.D.; his son, Martin Jones, Charleston, S.C.; his son, Bradley Jones and daughter-in-law Robin and their children, Alexandra, Adam and Aaron, all Camp Hill; and his stepson, Bradley Davidson and his wife Jo and their children, Emily, Benjamin, Caleb, James, Grace and Ellie, all Elizabethtown, Pa.