Dr. Clifford “Cliff” Merwyn Black passed away peacefully, at home, in Laredo, Texas on February 27, 2025, after a life of 82 years devoted to making the world a better place and serving others through higher education, the ministry, law & justice, and loving his family.

Cliff was born on March 6, 1942, in Lafayette, Ohio. His father was a United Methodist Minister well-known in northwest Ohio. The family moved frequently in response to his father’s pastoral calling. Cliff spent his childhood in Paulding and Lima, both of which he retained fond memories of throughout his life.  Earning pocket money, he had a paper route and an egg route. Cliff, with his egg wagon being pulled by his spaniel, Chum, became a familiar sight in the community.

The family later moved to Bryan, Ohio. He graduated from Bryan High in 1960, where he excelled in academics and track. At 16, he began working at the Ohio Art Company, helping box and ship Etch-A-Sketches and globes, and proudly held-on to his union card throughout his life.

In 1963, he received his undergraduate degree in sociology and history from Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan. The same year, he married Janet Knecht of Bryan, Ohio. He completed a Master of Divinity from Methodist Theological School. Cliff placed great emphasis on living his faith, playing an important role in organizing the student body’s civil rights, equal rights, and peace activism. He received his PhD in sociology from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, in 1970, writing his doctoral dissertation on “Leader Behavior and Patterns of Religious Bureaucracy.”

In the following years, Cliff pursued dual careers in the ministry and academia. While leading a series of United Methodist Churches throughout Ohio he was also a professor of sociology at the historically black Wilberforce University as well as The Ohio State University. The April 17, 1972, issue of Time Magazine carried a letter to the editor in which Cliff invoked Christian principles to scathingly critique Alabama’s segregationist Governor, George Wallace. At Ohio State he served in the faculty senate, on the budget advisory committee, as well as faculty advisor for the Black Student Association. While, as a professor, his focus was on his students and classroom instruction, he continued to research and publish throughout his career. Cliff became a leader in the Clinical Sociology and Sociological Practice movements, advocating that, instead of only an academic discipline, sociology’s research and insights should be used to improve society.

In 1977, Cliff and his family moved from Ohio to the Dallas, Texas area. Cliff was intensely proud of his adopted state, often sporting a cowboy hat and boots. In 1978, he became a professor of sociology at the University of North Texas (then North Texas State University). He served as director of the Department of Sociology as well as both associate and acting dean for UNT’s School of Community Service, bringing together academic departments emphasizing outreach and real-world application to community service and improvement. He was also part of the committee which led to the establishment of UNT’s Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science.

A special 1990 centennial edition of The North Texan quoted Cliff as saying “Giving and receiving are reciprocal behaviors. I have received beyond measure from my universities, former professors, colleagues, and the University of North Texas. My giving to UNT, and academia in general, is a symbolic attempt to repay an immeasurable debt.”

At UNT, Cliff’s academic interests and courses expanded to include criminology and criminal justice. He was always proud that his students included hundreds of serving and aspiring peace officers. Cliff became an early advocate of electronic monitoring and home detention as alternatives to incarceration, co-authoring an influential book on the topic. He directed the North Texas Criminal Justice Institute and served as a consultant to the Denton County Sheriff’s Department.

Elected to the Denton Independent School District school board, Cliff prioritized programs and resources giving students the best possible education and ensuring teachers had resources, support, and respect essential for their jobs. As a minister, he periodically assisted with services at First United Methodist and remained active with UMC’s organizations. As the UMC Central Texas Conference Journal noted in 1992, “Thanks be to God who through Dr. Clifford Black made the scriptures come alive and confronted us daily with the relevance of the Word of God to God’s people.”

Cliff also took great joy and pride in playing mentor for many of his eldest son’s childhood friends, whom he referred to as his “storm children.”

In 1993, he became a professor of sociology and criminology at Texas A&M International University (then Laredo State University) in Laredo, Texas. Cliff helped shape TAMIU at a time of rapid growth, including relocation to its current campus and transition to a four-year university. He served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and co-founded and directed TAMIU’s International Justice Center, a research center devoted to studying law enforcement, criminal justice, and corrections in a cross-border and international context. He received an award for work with disabled students.

In 1999, he married Angelica Hernandez of Laredo. They were blessed with a loving marriage lasting more than a quarter century. The couple were members of San Martin de Porres Church, a saint with whom Cliff especially connected because of San Martin’s emphasis on social justice, compassion for the less fortunate, and kindness to animals.

Following retirement from TAMIU, Cliff operated CJUS Consulting and served as consultant for the Webb County Sheriff’s Department. Both roles allowed him to continue expressing his conviction that a methodical, data-driven approach to law enforcement and corrections led to policies which were both effective and humane.

While preferring the comforts of home over travel, Cliff felt a deep connection with Taos, New Mexico and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A life-long reader, he enjoyed used bookstores and treasured the works of authors including Garrison Keillor, Tony Hillerman, Elizabeth Peters, and Thornton Burgess. He loved, and could quote at length from, classic 1980s comedies as well as SNL and SCTV. He was an avid fan of nature, history, and archaeology documentaries. As long as his health allowed, he enjoyed nature walks, collecting fossils and arrowheads. From childhood onward, Cliff’s great vice was peanut-butter sandwiches with chocolate milk.

While Cliff’s compassion and wisdom touched the lives of thousands of students, parishioners, friends and even strangers, his family was always the greatest focus of his desire to make the world a better place.

He is preceded in death by his father, Rev. Richard Black; mother, Ivaloo Mosher; and brother, Rev. Ronald Black. He leaves behind a large and loving family. Cliff is survived by wife, Angelica Hernandez Black; sister, Janice Touchton; dear friend and found-brother Dr. Ramon Alaniz (Pepito); children Jon Black and wife Jess Tucker, Marci (Marisela) Verastegui, Joe (Jose) Verastegui, and Charlie (Carlos) Verastegui and wife, Alexa Verastegui. Cliff was especially proud to be grandfather and “umpa” to Arabella May De Sousa and Ze Alexander De Sousa.

In lieu of flowers or other tributes, those whose lives were touched by Cliff are invited to consider donation to a Texas A&M International University.

Funeral arrangements are by Fred Dickey Funeral & Cremation Services, 1320 Trey Dr., Laredo, Texas 78041 (956) 723-3611. For your convenience, you may leave your condolences to the family online at www.freddickey.com

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