Clifford Terrel Polk was born in Brooklyn, NY, on September 29, 1931, to Coleman Royser Polk and Edith Gertrude Vogel. He was the oldest of five children and grew up in various places around the world, including Hawaii, Panama, and multiple states in the US. Cliff enlisted in the US Air Force in early 1949 at the age of 17. After learning to be a mechanic and rising to the rank of buck sergeant, he applied and was accepted into the Cadets/ OCS. He earned his commission as an officer and became a bombardier/navigator on the B-26. In 1962, simultaneously with the Cuban Missile Crisis, he became the F-4 Phantom FTD Commander at MacDill AFB in Tampa, FL. He would go on to similar roles in France and England. In 1968, Cliff arrived in Vietnam during the infamous Tet Offensive. He flew 148 missions and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He retired after 20 years of service as a Major.

After the Air Force, Cliff found a new passion for sailing. After sailing from Galveston, TX, to the Tampa Bay area of Florida, he soon met Carol, and they married shortly thereafter. Both were avid sailors, traveled extensively, and even completed the Great Loop (a 6,000-mile continuous waterway journey circumnavigating the eastern half of North America) aboard their sailboat. For more than 3 decades, Gulfport, FL, was home.

He is survived by his devoted wife of 38 years, Leona Carol Polk, of Gulfport, FL, and his children – David Polk and wife Barbara, Nancy Hall and husband Danny, Elizabeth Goza and husband Donald, and Susan Polk, his step-children – Lori Williams and her husband Aaron, Judy Helgran and her husband David, Darlene Ricci and her husband Ted, and David Brackett. His grandchildren are Merrell Goza and Paul Goza, Krystal & Allen Linkhorn, Dana Murray, Heather Murray, Melissa Jednat, David Helgran, Jennifer Brown, Cody Montgomery, Dakota Montgomery, Sarah Dunaway, David J Brackett, and Grace Brackett. He is also survived by his siblings, Robert Polk and wife Bronwyn, Marshall Polk, and Deborah Ivory and husband William. He was predeceased by his parents and his sister Brenda McCormick.