Peter F. Clifton, Educator

Peter F. Clifton, an educator at two prestigious independent schools who ran the Harvard College Fund for 10 years, died at home in Water Mill on Aug. 3. He was 90 years old and had had Alzheimer’s disease for five years.

Mr. Clifton, who received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard College in 1949 and had a master’s degree from Columbia University Teachers College, directed the Harvard College Fund, one of the Harvard Alumni Association’s philanthropic campaigns, from 1976 to 1985. He was a steadfast Harvard football fan.

He began his career in 1953 as a teacher  at St. David’s School in Manhattan, eventually becoming its admissions director and assistant headmaster. He was headmaster of the Episcopal Green Vale School in Old Brookville, Conn., from 1967 to 1974. Mr. Clifton also was one of the founders of the New York Interschool Faculty Diversity Search, which recruits teachers and administrators of minority descent for independent schools.

He was born in Overbrook, Pa., on Jan. 27, 1926, to Gorham Clifton and the former Margaret Keenan. He grew up in Philadelphia.

He and his wife, the former Alice Ann O’Brien, whom he married in 1953, moved to the East End permanently in 1983. Locally, he served on the board of trustees of the Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreational Center and was a member of Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Bridgehampton.

He also had an interest in politics, favoring the Democratic Party, and was among those who started a group called “The Caucus,” retirees who meet weekly at the Bridgehampton Candy Kitchen for lunch and conversation. Their gatherings are also a fund-raiser for the Bridgehampton Food Pantry.

Mr. Clifton is survived by his wife and four children, Suzanne Walsh of New York City, Peter Clifton Jr. of Nashville, Sasha Wade of Locust Valley, and Alicia Chabot of Rye, N.Y. Thirteen grandchildren also survive, and he was said to love the fact that they called him Poppy.

Mr. Clifton was cremated. A Mass of Christian burial will be held on Sept. 12 at noon at Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, with the Rev. Peter Devaraj officiating. Donations in his memory have been suggested to the Peter Clifton Scholarship Fund at St. David’s School, 12 East 89th Street, New York, N.Y. 10128.