Obituary of Jeffrey Clausen

Jeff was born on July 28, 1944 to the parents of Helen and Walter Clausen. He and his older sister Cathy began life in Seattle’s Swedish hospital and lived mostly in Seattle during their growing up years. When Jeff was in grade school, his Coast Guard father was assigned to Midway Island for two years. Jeff and his family moved to this 2.4 square mile island, cementing Jeff’s life-long love of water and sailing. As a young college dropout, Jeff moved to San Francisco in 1966 and worked as a mailroom attendant at San Francisco’s Leslie Salt Company. This time also included hanging out on the beach and attending a Joan Baez concert where Joan introduced the audience to a new performer named Bob Dylan. Homesick for Seattle, Jeff moved back north. By that time, he was interested in studying philosophy and earned a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from the University of Washington. This began a passion for studying and teaching philosophy, especially social justice and human rights, that lasted until Jeff’s death. Jeff’s career and second home was Green River Community College, where he taught philosophy and was a force of nature on the campus for 40 years. Jeff’s academic career also steered him to the Community College Humanities Association, where he enjoyed leadership roles and the valued friendship of many. Most of all, Jeff loved people and loved helping people. He was fascinated with making connections, solving problems, and making people feel better. He understood that people are neither angels nor devils, and worked to be empathetic to all. Jeff died peacefully on April 2 surrounded by friends and family. He had a hemorrhagic stroke on the previous day from which he was unable to recover. Jeff is survived by his wife Diane, son Tyler, many nieces and nephews, and many, many friends. We all love Jeff and will miss his presence in our lives. A celebration of life will be on Saturday, May 25th, 2-5 pm at the Phinney Community Center, 6532 Phinney Ave. No., Seattle, WA 98103