Clifford Doering, WWII veteran, former Marine and 5-decade A&P supermarket employee, dies at 100

World War II veteran and former Marine Clifford Doering was never more proud than when he was serving or giving back to his country, his family said. 

"He always loved the motto, 'Duty, honor, country,' which is ironic because it's the West Point motto, not the Marines," said Doering's daughter Mary Ann Doering, of Atlanta. "He would want to be remembered as a patriot, a Marine and a man who loved the United States and served this country with honor."

Clifford Doering, of Hicksville, died on Dec. 31 after contracting an infection. He was 100 and had lived at the Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University for the last eight months of his life.

Doering was born on May 19, 1925, in Jamaica, Queens, the seventh of eight children. His family grew up poor after Doering's father died when the boy was 3 years old.

"He understood hunger, poverty and sacrifice, and that defined him later in life," Doering's daughter said. "He couldn't stand to see anything go to waste, whether it was food or a piece of wood or anything that was broken. He saved everything because that was the mentality of people brought up in the Depression."

At 16, Doering got a job with A&P supermarkets and, one year later, falsified his age to get into the National Guard. Doering joined the Marines in February 1944.

"One of the happiest times in his life was when he learned that the war was over and that he would be returning to the U.S. from Okinawa to finish out his service at the Brooklyn Navy Yard," his daughter said.

After the war, Doering was serving in the Korean War reserve when he was selected to be in the Presidential Honor Guard under President Harry S. Truman in Washington, D.C.

In 1952, Doering bought a house in Hicksville with his brother and joined the Hicksville volunteer fire department. Doering married his wife, Irene Manelski, in 1957. The couple resided in Hicksville where they raised their children. Irene died in 2015.

His daughter said Doering loved Long Island.

"He loved the outdoors and taking us for drives to the beach. He knew Long Island like the back of his hand," she said. "He was grateful, cheerful, pleasant to be around and never complained."

Doering retired from the A&P Company after nearly five decades, but continued to work part-time jobs and do volunteer work well into his 80s. He served as an active member of the Plainview American Legion, the Hicksville Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Marine Corps League, Sunrise Detachment. He also enjoyed spending time with his fellow veterans.

Roger Kilfoil and his wife, Stephanie, met Doering in 2012 on an honor flight to the World War II memorial in Washington, D.C. and had been friends ever since. The Brooklyn couple are the founders of Mission Margraten Plus, a charitable organization that recognizes and pays tribute to World War II veterans by organizing events and trips.

"Cliff and I made an instant connection, and we became quick friends," said Roger Kilfoil, a former Marine and a retired FDNY firefighter. "He had a strength in him that I haven't seen with other World War II veterans. He dealt with his experience with humility and wisdom. I'm proud to have known him."

"He was a real gentle giant; very entertaining and very funny," Stephanie Kilfoil said.

Doering was "an adoring grandfather" who enjoyed fishing and playing games with his grandchildren, his daughter said. He liked to play cards, do puzzles and go clamming and boating. Clifford Doering also collected trains and spent time growing tomatoes in his later years. A lifetime highlight for Doering was being selected veteran of the day by the Mets at Citi Field in April 2024.

"When I think about Cliff, I think about the memories of the lessons he taught, how he has shaped his family and the legacy he left," Roger Kilfoil said.

Doering is survived by his children and grandchildren. A funeral Mass was celebrated on Jan. 9 at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Hicksville, followed by a military burial at Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton.