Wallace Clift

The Rev. Dr. Wallace Bruce Clift Jr., wise priest, inspiring professor, well-published author, adventurous traveler, and loving patriarch of a growing family, passed away peacefully in his home in Olympia, Washington, on February 5, 2018, at the age of 91.

Wallace Clift was born on March 27, 1926 in Robert Lee, Texas. Valedictorian of his high school class, he entered the University of Texas at Austin at age 17. On turning 18 in 1944, he joined the U.S. Navy, serving in naval intelligence until the end of the war, and then assisting the occupation forces to liaise with Korea’s education ministry as Korea transitioned to independence after forty years of Japanese rule. He returned to the US in 1948 and earned a bachelor’s degree with honors in economics and government from the University of Texas in 1949. He next earned a law degree from Harvard University, where he won a prize for Ames Arguments in his first year, and worked for the government in Washington, D.C. for a year before returning to Texas to practice law with Baker, Botts, Andrews, and Parish in Houston. At Baker Botts Wallace met the love of his life, fellow attorney Jean Dalby. They got engaged on their third date, a week after their first date, and were married within six months of meeting, on January 23, 1954.

During their early years in Houston, Wallace and Jean became active members at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, where they were confirmed, and from which four years later they took their lives in a new direction by leaving to attend seminary at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California, where their first two children (Anne and Lucy) were born. After earning his Master of Divinity degree in 1960, Wallace brought his family back to Houston, was ordained deacon in 1960 and priest in 1961, and served as vicar of Grace Church and the Church of the Resurrection until 1964. Their son Bruce was born during this time.

Responsibility for two parishes and a lifelong love of learning led the Rev. Clift to explore new tools for pastoral care. He attended Agnes Sanford’s School of Pastoral Care, participated in the founding conference of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors in 1963, and began to explore the psychology of Carl Jung. In 1964, Wallace and Jean Clift received a joint grant from the Farish Foundation to study at C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, where Wallace worked with analyst Jolande Jacobi. After two years, they returned to the U.S., where Wallace combined his studies in religion and psychology at the University of Chicago. In three years he earned both an M.A. and a Ph.D. in psychology of religion.

Dr. Clift taught psychology of religion at the University of Denver from 1969 to 1992, helping to start the department of religion’s joint Ph.D. program with the Iliff School of Theology in 1981, and serving as chair of the department for many years. He co-founded the Jung Society of Colorado in 1976, serving as its first president.

Wallace also remained active as a priest, assisting as associate clergy at St. John’s Cathedral, serving on the diocese’s Commission on Ministry for many years and as President of the Standing Committee from 1989-1990, celebrating the marriages of all three children and his eldest grandchild, and baptizing his many descendants.

After his retirement from the University of Denver in 1992, the Rev. Dr. Clift was appointed Canon Theologian of the Episcopal Diocese of Colorado and invited to head the Anglican Studies program at St. Thomas Theological Seminary. When St. Thomas closed in 1995, Dr. Clift and the Episcopal diocesan bishop negotiated the Anglican Studies program's move to the Methodist Iliff School of Theology, where he continued to head the program. In 2000 Bette Lanning endowed the Wallace B. and Jean Dalby Clift scholarship fund at Iliff seminary to provide funds for students in the Anglican Studies program. In 2002, when Wallace retired from Anglican Studies, he was made Canon Theologian Emeritus. The Church Divinity School of the Pacific awarded Wallace Clift an honorary doctorate in 2003.

Wallace Clift’s first book, Jung and Christianity, was published in 1982 and has been frequently reprinted in the US and Australia, as well as being translated into Korean. With his wife Jean, Wallace Clift wrote Symbols of Transformation in Dreams (1984), The Hero Journey in Dreams (1988), and The Archetype of Pilgrimage (1996). Wallace published two books of spiritual guidance and reflection, Journey Into Love: Road Signs Along the Way (1990) and How to Make Love and Other Godly Thoughts (2012), as well as many articles and encyclopedia entries.

Both as a professor and in retirement, Dr. Clift gave numerous lectures, workshops and conference presentations in the community, throughout the United States and elsewhere, including Australia, Korea, Japan, Great Britain, and Poland. An adventurous spirit and boundless curiosity took him to all seven continents, 93 countries, and every state of the United States.

In 2012 Wallace and Jean Clift moved from Denver, their home of 41 years, to be closer to family in Olympia, Washington. Despite declining health, Wallace Clift retained his sense of humor, his courtesy, his love of family, and his faith in God until the end.

Wallace Clift is survived and deeply missed by his beloved wife of 64 years, the Rev. Dr. Jean Dalby Clift; three children: Anne Clift Boris (and husband John) of Annandale, Virginia, Lucy Clifthorne (Michael) of Olympia, Washington, and son Bruce Clift (Karin) of Scotts Valley, California; six grandchildren: Sarah Clifthorne (Scott) of Olympia, Evan Clifthorne (Alexandra) of Seattle, Dylan Clifthorne of Olympia, David Boris of Portland, Oregon, Stephen Boris of Reston, Virginia, and Rachel Clift of Scotts Valley, California; and three great-grandchildren: Emerson, Elliot and Edward Michael Clifthorne of Olympia.

A memorial service for the Rev. Dr. Wallace Bruce Clift will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Olympia, Washington, on March 17 at 4 pm. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made either to the Wallace B. and Jean Dalby Clift Scholarship Fund at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado (iliff.edu/give with “Clift Scholarship” in the memo line), or to St. John’s Episcopal Church in Olympia (stjohnsoly.org/).