June Henry Clifton, 86, of Temple died Sept. 12, 2009, at the Temple VA Hospital.

Funeral services were Sept. 17 at Stacy-Wilkins Funeral Home in Goldthwaite. Burial followed at Murphree Cemetery at Evant.

Mr. Clifton was born June 27, 1923, in Star, the son of Rex and Delena Garrett Clifton.

He graduated from Star High School where he was a standout athlete, excelling in football, track, baseball and basketball. An accident in his senior year of high school prevented him from attending a professional baseball recruiting camp.

Before military service, Mr. Clifton married Helen Wigley on July 15, 1944, in Goldthwaite. He was a corporal in the U.S. Army during World War II where he served as a military policeman in the Pacific Theater. His final year in the military was spent as a guard at the war crimes trials of suspected Japanese war criminals in Manila, Philippines.

After military service, Mr. Clifton worked for Brown & Root Construction in Texas and Kansas for a few years.

The couple returned to Texas where he resumed the ranching and livestock business.

Mr. Clifton also played semiprofessional baseball in Goldthwaite with the Red Sox for many years.

In 1959, the family moved to Lampasas where Mr. Clifton managed the new Lampasas Livestock Auction. After about 12 years of livestock order buying and managing the auction for Tommy Winters, Mr. Clifton and Earl Winters purchased the Mills County Commission in Goldthwaite.

Mr. Clifton eventually became sole owner and was well known throughout Texas' livestock industry.

After retirement, the couple traveled in their recreational vehicle all over the country and into Canada. They lived in the Rio Grande Valley, Odessa, New Braunfels and Austin before settling in Temple.

Mr. Clifton's hobbies included dominoes, playing pool, golf and bridge.

He is survived by his wife of Temple; three children, Rosalyn Clifton, Kay Null and Gary, and John Clifton and Tammy; grandchildren, Jennifer Caldwell and Greg, Brian Null and Stacey, and Wade, Walt and Karen Jo Clifton; and great-grandchildren, Elizabeth, Heather and Carson Caldwell and Cooper Null.

He was preceded in death by two brothers, Bobby and Dean (Dizzy), and by a sister, Rexine Kelso.

Memorials may be made to Cherokee Home for Children or Murphree Cemetery.

Arrangements by Stacy-Wilkins Funeral Home of Goldthwaite.