Friends, family and fellow music lovers plan to gather in the Bay Area next month to honor two local Grateful Dead fans whose lives were cut short in a tragic accident.
A celebration of life for Doug Clifton, a retired Alameda firefighter, and his partner, Kathy Velez Katz, a retired nurse, is set for Nov. 8 at Veterans Memorial Hall in Redwood City. Bagpipers from the Alameda Fire Department, where Clifton once served as a firefighter, are expected to open the evening.
Clifton, 69, and Katz, 70, were killed last month in a motorcycle crash on Highway 50 in Utah while traveling to Colorado Springs for a firefighter memorial service. Their sudden death has reverberated across the Bay Area music scene and the wider Deadhead community…