Paul Lovell Clifford, 76, of Dixmont, went home to be with Jesus on February 18, 2026. He had been hospitalized at Maine Medical Center, and passed away with his wife Phyllis and cousin Ami by his side. Paul was born in Troy on May 1, 1949 to Mildred Lydia (Nurmi) and Charles Lovell Clifford. He was the firstborn to the young couple, who had started a fledgling dairy farm on Barker Hill Road in Troy. Paul was soon joined by his brother, James, and sister Nancy. They spent their earliest years on the farm, playing with puppies and kittens and other farm animals. The three of them were close and had many adventures together. Charles was very proud of his children, and taught them the skills needed to build a dairy farm in rural Maine. Both brothers worked tirelessly from a very early age; dairy cows needed to be milked twice a day come rain or shine and they got up early every morning before school to get the chores done. In the fall of 1955, the young family had an opportunity to purchase a little larger farm and acreage on Troy Center Road - they were joined that winter with a sister, Betty. A few years later, in 1960, Stephen was born - he completed the list of five. As they grew, Paul and James assumed more of the work load, as it takes all hands on deck to take care of a growing herd, younger livestock, pigs, chickens, grow a garden, fix broken things, and produce hay and silage for the animals. Charles had teams of horses for years until tractors became more available, and the family inherited an old black and white pony named Tony which the children loved. Family from Long Island would visit in the summer now and then, and they had a movie camera, which was wonderful for capturing memories . As Nancy got a bit older, she was able to drive the truck in the hayfield as Paul and James loaded the bales. They bought a piece of equipment that attached to the side of the truck, grabbed the bale, and lifted it off the ground, throwing it into the truck bed for stacking. What a welcome relief for the boys to not have to lift and throw it up onto the bed! Sometimes after a long hot day of haying, Charles would load the kids into the back of the truck and head to the lake to cool off - what a treat! Paul's skill set lent itself to the mechanical - he could weld and fix almost anything - he had an eye and a creative spark that created many amazing vehicles over the years. He built two different go carts - the first one used a lawnmower engine and a school bus seat - the brakes were a flap that pushed against the rear wheels to slow it down! The second one Paul built was much more sophisticated - it was a work of art and engineering! He started with an old VW frame, cut four inches out of it and began assembling a road worthy car. The body was plywood, painted cherry red and the front hood sported a silver lady hood ornament with long flowing hair. It was amazing to drive and everyone had so much fun running around in it. Sadly, it met its demise with an accident that totaled it, but preserved the occupants. Paul never grumbled or complained about it being destroyed, but it must have been a blow to see his beautiful car meet such an unfortunate end. Each creation lent inspiration to the next creation however! Paul attended grade school at Troy Central School and graduated from Mt. View High School in 1967. He was a member of the Future Farmers of America. It was always the plan to work the family farm, which had grown to over 100 head of Holsteins, as he and James and Steve had done for all of their growing years. Anyone who has farmed in Maine knows the profit margin is tight, and when Paul met and fell in love with his wife Phyllis, it soon became apparent that the farm would not support multiple families with growing needs. It was a sad reality that soon took Paul away to find a more lucrative way to provide for his family; it would be only a few more years before time and reality caused the farming era to end for the Clifford family. Paul married Phyllis Smith on July 15th, 1978 and they were blessed with two children, Kelly and David. They settled in Troy, in a house Paul built right up the road from the family farm. Paul had a variety of different jobs over the years, mostly driving trucks. AJ Cole's, Sawyer's Trash, Quirk, Ryder and Maine Trailer to name a few companies. In the mid 80s, he moved the young family to Winslow to manage the new Kirby Vacuum store. While there, he converted an out-of-use school bus into a camper and as a family they took to travelling the east coast. 2 consecutive winters were spent in Florida, and thus began the wish to be a snowbird. He held jobs at Publix and Bridlewood Farm, and enjoyed the sights of Florida with Phyllis, Kelly and David. After Florida, the family settled in Dixmont. Paul and others built a house, shed, garage and treehouse. There were times of hauling milk, of shovelling snow at the airport and of driving a tour bus. He would come to fix up another truck and use it to haul Smokey's Greater Shows carnival rides all over New England. His passion really was building and tinkering and creating. Anything machinery was fixable and able to be repurposed into something else. His most used project was the airport diesel Jeep he modified to run on cooking oil, lots of fun back roads miles in that. The final project was a firetruck converted into a parade vehicle able to carry people, one that didn't quite get completed. We remember Dad as someone who could talk to anyone anywhere anytime about anything. He enjoyed square dancing and taking his automobile creations to car shows. He always gave us a sand pile to play in, would always change the oil and rotate tires, kept wood in the shed and the driveway plowed in his half John Deere, half austin-westen crane creation. He had endless stories he would create in his miles along the road that kept us entertained. The weekly routines always included reading the Uncle Henry's, getting the weekend paper and was usually topped off with pizza from Nason's General Store. And much to Mom's chagrin, it was a constant battle every year to save the blueberry bushes from the mower deck! His last text was "Ok. I'm stopping to rest now." Paul is survived by his wife of nearly 48 years, Phyllis, daughter Kelly and son David. Also, siblings James [Carol], Nancy [Van], Betty, Stephen [Pam] as well as their children: Jim [Jen] and Tara (mother Vicki), Casey, Catherine [Shawn] and Christine, Logan, Molly, Michael [Jenna] (mother Gloria), Josh, Amanda [Nate], Zach [Jill] and Kamdra. Extended family includes Thompson cousins Bunky, Jackie, Christine, Ami and Tommy, Doak families, Nurmi families (especially Sandra Wiesemann) and Smith/Thew/LaPointe families. He was predeceased by his parents Charles and Mildred and brother in law Randy. A celebration of Paul's life will be held this summer, with a date to be announced.