SEQUIM — Sequim’s 2014 Citizen of the Year was lauded Tuesday posthumously.
Cliff Vining, 93, died before he could accept the award.
Vining died Saturday morning, just three days before the awards ceremony Tuesday and only weeks after deteriorating health forced him to leave the Sequim Food Bank volunteer position he had held since February 1985.
Master of ceremonies Gary Smith, recipient of the 2013 award, announced Vining’s selection as Citizen of the Year to a crowd of about 120 at the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce luncheon at SunLand Golf & Country Club.
Mark Ozias, executive director of the food bank, told of Vining’s accomplishments while Stephen Rosales, food bank president, accepted the award for Vining.
The Sequim Food Bank had been open only for a year when Vining showed up to volunteer five days a week, 52 weeks a year, Ozias said.
“It’s impossible to know how many lives he has impacted,” Ozias said.
“His legacy is built on helping one person at a time.”
Ozias said Vining volunteered through the Christmas season in 2014 before ongoing health problems forced him to move into an assisted living home.
“Cliff was the real deal,” Ozias said.
The award was not the first time Vining had been honored in Sequim.
In 2009, he was the Sequim Festival Honorary Pioneer of the Year.
Rosales said Vining had been nominated for the Citizen of the Year once before but turned town the nomination.
This year, Rosales said, he persuaded Vining to accept the nomination in the name of all food bank volunteers and to raise awareness for the food bank.
Vining spent many of his 30 years at the food bank stocking shelves and helping food bank patrons find what they needed.
“He helped move millions of pounds of food and helped tens of thousands of people,” Rosales said.
There were times when Vining would pull cash out of his pocket and give it to people at the food bank, Rosales added.
Vining was born in 1925 to Iona and Sidney Vining in New Mexico.
The family moved from New Mexico to Sequim that year. Vining grew up in Sequim and graduated from Sequim High School in 1939.
He moved soon after and had job titles that included vegetable farmer, vintner, dairy farmer, milk truck driver, Grandview city councilman and color television repairman, Rosales said.
The business he left behind in Grandview in 1985, Cliff’s TV and Video, is still open, Rosales noted.
When Vining retired in 1985, he returned to Sequim.
Ozias noted that when Vining began volunteering, televisions were still repairable, Ronald Reagan was president, the movie “Back to the Future” was released — and 2015 was the year of the future depicted in that film.
Vining’s wife, Bette Lou (King) Vining, died in 2005 after the two had been married 57 years.
Rosales said that while he was happy that Vining was awarded the honor of Citizen of the Year, he hoped Vining’s spirit was not at the ceremony.
Vining was an avid golfer, he said.
“I sincerely hope he is taking a heavenly round of golf,” Rosales said.
The other finalists were David Blakeslee, Melissa Murray and Judy Reandeau-Stipe.
They were selected by a committee of past Citizen of the Year recipients.
Blakeslee was recognized for his activities with the Sequim Valley Lions Club, serving as project manager in building handicapped-accessible ramps for disabled Sequim residents and helping with the biannual veterans dinner.
He also is active on the Sequim Irrigation Festival board.
Murray is volunteer coordinator for the Lavender Farmers Association and the Lavender Farm Tour & Fair, and volunteers with numerous other community groups.
Reandeau-Stipe, a member of a Dungeness Valley pioneer family, works toward the preservation of local history and the long-term health of the Sequim Museum & Arts Center as its volunteer executive director.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.