Painting the Town Maroon - McMurry University

One might say that in certain lighting, the soft tan bricks of Polk Street United Methodist Church
take on a certain maroon hue. From generation to generation, the connection between McMurry
University and Polk Street UMC continues to strengthen. Here are the stories of some of the people
whose lives have become intertwined through this connection and who have themselves become
catalysts in growing and cultivating future connections.
Clifford ’51 and Irene Trotter
Clifford and Irene Trotter
planted one of the first seeds
for the Polk Street–McMurry
connection. After high school,
Clifford joined the Army Air
Corps, where he served as a radio operator on
a B-17 in Europe during World War II. After he
returned, he farmed for his father and attended
Wayland Baptist for two years. He also served as
pastor for Cone/Carr’s Chapel during that time.
Knowing Clifford’s dream of becoming
a fulltime minister, W.C. Hines, the District
Superintendent of the Plainview district, asked him
if he would be interested in going to Hawley and
Hodges (north of Abilene). “He said it would allow
me to go to McMurry,” Clifford shared. “Irene and
I were happy to be able to go. But as happy as we
were to go to McMurry, we were sad to leave our
parishioners at Cone/Carr’s Chapel.”
Clifford and Irene came to Abilene in 1949,
and he graduated from McMurry in 1951. Clifford
began his two year probation for the Methodist
clergy, and the couple moved to Trent from their
appointment at Hawley/Hodges. “Trent had asked
for a full-time pastor. The parishioners felt they
were not as connected as they wanted to be with
student pastors leading their church,” said Clifford.
Clifford was appointed to the church. However, a
promised salary increase did not materialize, so
the District Superintendant moved the Trotters to
Fair Park Church in Abilene. The challenge from
the leadership was to “either close it gracefully
or make it grow.” Through a lot of hard work and
determination and despite a number of difficulties,
the Trotters did indeed make it grow. “After three
months, every Sunday somebody joined the
church,” said Irene, and when they left, there were
more than 500 members.
Their time at Fair Park allowed the Trotters to
keep in close contact with McMurry and allowed
Clifford to take master’s classes at McMurry in
Religious Education. His success in growing Fair
Park led to their next appointment at First United
Methodist Church in Dumas, Texas, which lasted
for eight years. Clifford served for five years in
Hereford, Texas, and then was asked to serve on
the Bishop’s Cabinet as District Superintendent for
the Amarillo district. After two and a half years,
the Trotters moved to Lubbock for 18 months
as District Superintendent before Clifford took
over as Senior Pastor at Polk Street in Amarillo,
the Northwest Conference’s largest congregation.
The Trotters served there for ten happy years.
Clifford was then appointed Amarillo District
Superintendent for four years before retirement.
After leaving the active ministry in 1989,
Clifford was asked by Dr. Tom Kim in 1990 to work
for McMurry in the church relations office, and he
eagerly accepted. When he would go to churches,
Clifford would ask for meetings with students and
their parents and bring information on financial
aid resources. In addition, he worked with the
advancement office. He stayed at that job for two
and a half years working from Amarillo before
“retiring” in 1993. He then worked for the Texas
Methodist Foundation for seven years and was
instrumental in getting gift annuities for McMurry.
After “retiring” once more, Clifford again stepped
up for McMurry in 2005 when Dr. John Russell
asked him to work again on a part-time basis. He
decided to retire for good in 2007.
Clifford served as president of the McMurry
Alumni Board in 1966 and as a member of the
McMurry Board of Trustees for many years. He was
honored by McMurry with an honorary Doctor of
M c M u r r y U n i v e r s i t y 11