Clifford D. Newell

PHIPPSBURG – Clifford D. Newell died Thursday January 29, 2026 at home surrounded by his loving family.

He was born in Waltham, MA March 14,1941 to Edward F. Newell, Sr. and Pauline D. Newell. The family moved to Bath in 1942 when his father was employed at Bath Iron Works and subsequently Bath Police Department. He was educated in Bath schools and graduated from Morse High School in 1959. In his teen years he made ice cream at Hallet’s Drug Store, a story he loved to tell. Throughout his life he was known to family and friends as “Tip or Tippy” but was known as Cliff in his professional career.

In 1962 he graduated from MVTI in South Portland with a certification in Marine Technology.

He married the love of his life, Judith H. Libby of Bath, in 1962. They moved to Woods Hole, MA shortly afterward when he accepted a job at the National Marine Fisheries. When the opportunity arose to come back to Maine he took a position at the US Commercial Fisheries Laboratory in Boothbay Harbor. The job required that he become a diver and sent him to the Navy School of Deep Sea Diving in Washington, DC in 1965 where he was the only civilian in the program.

When the Boothbay lab closed in 1973, the family moved back to Woods Hole where they lived until 1987.

He then was appointed the Director of NOAA Diving after constructing a new facility in Seattle, WA. In his new role he trained NOAA scientists, US Secret Service for VP Quayle, and several law enforcement personnel. He built and installed hyperbaric chambers in several places, including Florida and Honduras. He was a member of the Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society and ran training programs for physicians in the operation of the chambers. He would later receive a Life-time Achievement Award from the Pacific Chapter of UHMS for his work in hyperbaric medicine. He was also involved in the development of the Navy Dive Manual. During his career he was involved in projects around the world that put him on the ocean floor for days at a time, using the chambers and staff that he had trained to decompress upon resurfacing.

Cliff Newell retired from NOAA in 1996 and he and Judy moved back to Phippsburg where they built a beautiful home on family land. He built many pieces of furniture for the home as well as adaptive furniture for children for the Pine Tree Society. He loved the outdoors and was an avid fisherman and hunter. He also had retirement jobs hauling lobster traps and maintaining several camps around Phippsburg. He was Vice chair of the planning board and was a member of the Town roads, landing, and land use committee. He was also a Deacon at the former Central Congregational Church in Bath.

He is predeceased by his parents and his brother, Edward F. Newell, Jr.

He is survived by his wife Judy and three children, Clifford D. Newell, II and his wife, Robin, of West Bath, Sara Jane Maciver of Peebles, Scotland, and Katherine Paul of Falmouth, MA; two sisters, Betty Callan of Bath and Nancy Cooper of Augusta, as well as eleven grandchildren and several nieces and nephews.

The family thanks the CHANS staff for the loving care, comfort, and support they provided to Tip and his family over the recent months.

A celebration of his life will be held this summer. Memorial donations may be made to the McClanathan – Phippsburg Fire and Rescue Fund, PO Box 87, Phippsburg, ME 04562. Condolences may be expressed online at www.DaigleFuneralHome.com