Cliff Hunter
Cliff Hunter
19 Nov 1935 - 19 Mar 2024
Clubs & Associations
In Their Own Words
Elf made sure package arrived
A Christmas Gift left on a bus was mailed by a kind stranger
By Diane Mastrull
Inquirer Staff Writer
For Christmas, Cliff Hunter got an invaluable gift — a reminder that there are good people in the world.
He just wishes he knew the name of one of them in particular, so he could offer thanks.
The inspiring story began on SEPTA's Route 17 bus shortly after 9 a.m. Dec. 18.
Hunter, 79, a single retired social services worker, had boarded at 20th and Wharton Streets, near his South Philadelphia home to do some errands. He had placed a Christmas package — a sweater — ready to be mailed to a sister in Florida in the parcel bin at the front of the bus. Then he made his way to a seat farther back.
His stop at 20th and Locust Street came up faster than Hunter had expected.
"I dashed to the front and dashed off the bus — and left my package behind," he recalled Thursday. "I walked about half a block, and suddenly realized it was gone. The bus was gone, too."
Hunter was crestfallen. Living on Social Security, he did not have much money for gifts. He had found the brown wool cardigan discarded along with other items on a city sidewalk, and "carefully, for hours," scraped dried paint from it "and got it looking nice."
He thought it perfect for his sister Sharon Vieland, who is 71, lives just north of Tampa, Fla., and "always gets cold."
"I figured it would be a nice present," Hunter said, one that he dreaded would wind up with whoever found it on the bus or "whomever it fit."
Hunter called SEPTA three times over the next few days, to learn no one had turned in the package.
So he sent a Christmas card to his sister in which he explained he had lost her present and apologized.
Imagine his surprise when Vieland called him Christmas morning and said: "I'm going to be so warm."
His reply, according to his sister: "You got that?"
Indeed she had. Whoever found Hunter's package on the Route 17 bus had mailed it as addressed — and paid more than $8 in postage to do so.
"Somebody was really, really in the Christmas spirit to send it, " Hunter said. "They're a generous, warm, caring, person."
He knew of no other way to try to get word to that person about his gratitude than to call The Inquirer, which he did Thursday afternoon.
Reached at her home in Shady Hills, Vieland was equally grateful.
"It's a nice, wool, heavy sweater," she said. "It was so nice to have someone be that considerate and pay over $8 in postage to get that to me."
"I wish there was more goodness in the world. We'd have a whole lot better world."
As for that card from her brother apologizing for losing her present?
"I haven;t gotten that," Vieland said with a laugh.[1]
Obituaries
Cliff Hunter, adventurous transgender advocate and volunteer, has died at 88
He told his family he felt seen, heard, and welcomed by friends and colleagues in Philadelphia. They all said he was warm and caring. “He was a very giving person,” his sister said.
by Gary Miles
Cliff Hunter, 88, of Philadelphia, an adventurous transgender advocate and volunteer, died Tuesday, March 19, of heart and respiratory failure at Liberty Pointe health care center in Doylestown.
Born in Torrington, Conn., Mr. Hunter began to embrace his gender identity in 1996 when he lived in California. After moving to Philadelphia in 2013, he advocated locally for transgender men and women and volunteered often to assist others at Action Wellness, the Mazzoni Center, Philly AIDS Thrift, and elsewhere in the city and South Jersey.
He was a friendly and energetic handyman in his Point Breeze neighborhood for years, and his family noted his “exuberant personality” and “can-do spirit” in a tribute. He had his own tools, had worked construction jobs earlier, and was hired for all sorts of fix-it jobs in South Philadelphia.
He told his sister, Joyce Wilson, and her husband, Len, that he felt seen, heard, and welcomed by friends and colleagues in Philadelphia. A social worker, a judge, other volunteers, and neighbors told the Wilsons how deeply Mr. Hunter impacted them.
“People felt such affection and care for him,” his sister said. “He made friends every day of his life.” His brother-in-law said: “He made others comfortable. He blossomed here.”
Mr. Hunter worked at the post office and elsewhere over the years. He was an exceptional gardener and dancer, and especially active with the Independence Squares dance group.
He was featured in a 2014 article in The Inquirer about a stranger finding his Christmas gift for his sister on a SEPTA bus and spending $8 to mail it to her in Florida. “Somebody was really, really in the Christmas spirit to send it,” Mr. Hunter told The Inquirer. “They’re a generous, warm, caring person.”
He lived in California for 47 years, from 1965 to 2012, and spent 2012 near Tampa, Fla., before moving to 22nd Street in South Philly. He roamed the wilds of California for decades, hiking and camping, and riding with motorcycle groups on desert roads and seaside highways.
In 1993, he rode his motorcycle from Oakland to Philadelphia for a family wedding, stopped by an LGBTQ march in Washington on the way, and checked in at the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota on the way back. Yosemite National Park, with its majestic waterfalls and giant sequoia trees, was one of his favorite campgrounds.
“I have always admired your adventurous spirit,” his great-nephew Andrew wrote in a tribute, “and your strength through moments of adversity.”
The oldest of three, Mr. Hunter was born Nov. 19, 1935. He grew up on a small farm in Long Island, N.Y., and liked to write and read science fiction. He left school before graduation but returned later to earn a General Educational Development certificate.
He was married and divorced three times and had son Wayne as a teenager. He liked to play cards and crochet, and was a natural-born group leader, his sister said.
He adopted stray animals wherever he lived and took writing classes and other educational courses in California. His brother-in-law said he was a good listener, and “he knew how to smile.”
He was attentive to current events and, although generally quiet and introspective, shared some of his personal thoughts about life and identity with his family. “We came to a better understanding,” his brother-in-law said. “Now I understood.”
His sister said: “He was a very giving person.”
In addition to his sister, son, and brother-in-law, Mr. Hunter is survived by other relatives. A sister died earlier.
A celebration of his life was held earlier.
Donations in his name may be made to Action Wellness, 1216 Arch St., Sixth Floor, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107; Philly AIDS Thrift, 710 S. Fifth St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147; and the Mazzoni Center, 1348 Bainbridge St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147.[2]
Memorial Panel
Photos
Cliff with Toby, Dec 2014
At Belles Run Philadelphia 2019, 2019
