Obituary: Shelly Clifford

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Shelly Jo (Mumm) Clifford, formerly of New Liberty, passed on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2020, at her home in Waukee. Family and friends are welcome to attend a 10 a.m. Celebration of Life Service and/or luncheon to follow at Park View Lutheran Church, Park View, on Saturday, Jan. 25.

Shelly was born Feb. 23, 1961, and lived a full and adventurous life and blessed all with her smile and positivity. Traveling was one of her greatest hobbies, she took every opportunity to see the world by taking countless trips with her daughter, family members and close friends. Growing up on her family’s century farm in rural Scott County instilled the value of hard work. Her strong, independent and resilient personality never let her shy away from tackling home improvement projects, such as roofing her home and was the family expert when it came to ceramic tiling. She also had a knack for making loved ones feel special by creating personalized gifts. Among many hobbies, Shelly enjoyed reading, gardening, bird watching, playing piano and drums, Broadway shows, going on biking, camping and kayaking adventures. She was a member of the Liberty Bell Ringers 4-H club, International Ski Club and was a member of Faith Lutheran Church of Clive. Above all, Shelly’s fondest joy was spending time with her family and friends, especially during numerous family girl’s weekends that always ended with countless inside jokes and memories to be remembered for years to come.

Shelly’s lifelong success stemmed from a love of learning during her years at Bennett Community Schools, AIB College of Business and Kaplan University (summa cum laude).

After completing her schooling, Shelly was an accountant for Flying J, where her skills were immediately recognized as she moved on to become an account manager of Bettendorf Community Schools, Business Manager of Perry Community School District, and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Urbandale Community Schools. While CFO in Urbandale, Shelly was awarded the 2017 Iowa Association of School Business Officials Professional Leadership Award. This is the highest honor bestowed upon its members and given to an individual who exemplifies professionalism, leadership and innovation in the field of school business management, which those who had the honor of knowing Shelly knew to be true within and outside the workplace.

She is survived by daughter, Janaye Clifford of Des Moines; mother, Judy Mumm (fiancé Herb Kuehl) of Davenport; brother, Bradley Mumm (Dick Taber) of Durant; sister, Darla (Scott) Fay of New Liberty; sister, Tricia (Dale) Schroeder of Davenport; nephew, Michael (Tess) Fay of Greenville, S.C.; niece, Lauren Fay, Ames.

She was preceded in death by an infant brother, Martin Mumm and father, Jerry Mumm.

In honor of Shelly’s courageous five-year battle with ALS, donations may be made in her name to the ALS Association (www.alsa.org) or the National Wildlife Federation (www.nwf.org) in remembrance of her love of wildlife.

 

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