Clifford George Fill

Clifford George Fill was born, February 24, 1950 in Lakewood, Ohio and passed away on October 25, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. Loving husband of Ellyn, formerly of Atlanta, Georgia and father of James (Amanda), of Leesburg, Georgia, Wendy (Jason), of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and Mary-Margaret (Daniel) of Nashville, Tennessee, and Grandfather of Elizabeth Pearl Fill, Andrew James Fill, George Vincent Latella, Robert Anthony Latella, Paul Hayes Schuster and Julia Madison Schuster. He is also survived by his mother, Mary Aldia Madison Fill, of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and siblings: Patricia (Norman), Deborah (John), Susan (Glenn) and Robert (Alejandra). He was preceded in death by his father, George Andrew Fill, of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Cliff grew up around the country and the world, thanks to a father with a storied career in U.S. government service. He had fondest memories of living abroad in Istanbul and Tokyo; however, Cleveland, Ohio always felt the most like home. Cliff attended The Ohio State University and was a committed Buckeye for life, attentively following recruitment and games for a myriad of sports. He perhaps rooted hardest, however, for The Best Damn Band In The Land (TBDBITL), the Ohio State University Marching Band; and arranged his Saturday gamedays in Columbus around Friday afternoon gray day practice, Saturday morning skull session, and pregame and halftime performances. Cliff was a talented and dedicated entrepreneur, founding his own recruiting firm, Dixie Search Associates (DSA) in 1983. He specialized in recruiting executive talent in the food and hospitality industry and worked with companies around the world over a 45-year career. He volunteered with a variety of groups throughout his adult life but was most impacted by his work with Stephen Ministries and the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, where he served as the U.S. envoy to the Libyan Olympic delegation. His Atlanta Olympic experience was particularly special to him as he had also been selected for a special role during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics while living there as a teenager. Cliff was a voracious reader and especially loved historical fiction. He was a lifelong learner and global citizen, subscribing to 4 daily newspapers for much of his adult life. Cliff greatly admired and treasured musical creative expression – from the symphony to musical theater. He was a season ticket holder at the Fox Theater in Atlanta for over a decade and could always hum the tunes to some of his favorite musicals. While Buckeye football was his passion, Cliff enjoyed all sports and regularly watched baseball, basketball and hockey in addition to football. Cliff was invigorated by travel and had particularly fond memories of trips exploring the national parks and monuments out West, to Alaska, to London and to the Mediterranean. Family was of utmost importance to Cliff, and he honored and treasured his family history and legacy. He felt a strong connection to his family’s roots in Cleveland, Ohio, especially the St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox Cathedral where his grandfather was an original member. Cliff’s family descended from the Carpatho-Rusyn people who lived for more than a thousand years in remote villages scattered among the foothills and valleys of the Carpathian Mountains of East Central Europe, a lineage of which he was particularly proud. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in Cliff’s name to the St. Theodosius Orthodox Cathedral Fire Restoration Campaign, The Ohio State University Marching Band or Alive Hospice. The family thanks his medical teams over the last year at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, especially Drs. Lindsey Goodman (Katherine Wright and the team at Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center Belle Meade), Kamran Idrees, Eduardo Lopez Martinez, Nicholas Kavoussi and Jill Jones, and the incredibly caring and compassionate team at the Alive Hospice Residence in Nashville, Tennessee. https://www.alivehospice.org/get-involved/give/ https://campaigns.tithely.com/97560-st-theodosius-orthodox-cathedral/fire-restoration-campaign https://tbdbitl.osu.edu/

Clifford George Fill

February 24, 1950 - October 25, 2024