Issac Dale Clem: 1998-2024 – Eugene Weekly

Trigger warning: This story involves suicide.

Issac Dale Clem loved to laugh, family members say, and he did everything he could to put a smile on their faces. He was a traveler, the self-described term for homeless people who move from city to city and state to state. He always returned to see his family.

His mother, Suzanne Gerhardt, says Issac struggled with his mental health. She says he always put other people’s feelings before his own.

“He was always thinking about other people,” she says. “He just, for some reason, couldn’t see that he was also a wonderful person.”

Issac, 25, committed suicide in Junction City after setting himself on fire.Eugene weekly does not normally report on individual suicides or discuss the method of suicide. In this case, the death was public and was reported in the news and on social media.)

He was born on December 22, 1998, in Klamath Falls. From the beginning, family members say, Issac could only be described as tenderhearted.

“Issac was full of love and whimsy and had so many easy smiles to brighten the world,” said his aunt, Linda Weatherford. “It never took long to smile when he was around.”

Suzanne says that Issac rarely got into trouble, and when he did, he was quick to admit it and apologize.

“How can you stay angry,” she asks, “when he was more disappointed in himself than we ever could be?”

When Issac was 14, the Clems moved to Vancouver, Washington, and lived with Gerhardt’s partner, Lewis Gerhardt, and his daughter, McKenna. McKenna Gerhardt says she and Issac were not only stepsiblings, but also good friends.

“It was just me, and then my dad’s new family,” McKenna says. “I was in emotional distress, and Issac was the only one who took the time to notice.”

Issac first left home after he turned 18, searching for himself, his mother says. He never stayed in one place for long, but he returned to Vancouver every year.

“He was a kind of wanderer,” says Suzanne. “A nomad, a gypsy. But he always came back.”

Issac lived in Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Michigan and Texas during his life. Suzanne says he was loved wherever he went. Friends from out of state traveled to Vancouver to attend his celebration of life on July 28.

“He always starts out very excited at the prospect of new dreams and new goals,” says Suzanne, “and then, unfortunately, for whatever reason, he gets in his own way, it goes wrong and he comes back to Vancouver.”

According to family members, Issac told his family in the days before his death that he was struggling and wanted to return home. He did. And then, around 11 a.m. on June 29, he left to drive his girlfriend’s car to Eugene. Suzanne gave him money for an Amtrak ticket so he could return home.

Suzanne says she received a text from Isaac at 1:33 p.m. saying he was still struggling.

“He knew he could come home,” she says. “He would come home.”

At 2:05 p.m., Eugene-Springfield Fire responded to a 7-Eleven in Junction City after receiving an initial report of a brush fire. Paramedics rushed Issac to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center RiverBend in Springfield, and then he was flown by air ambulance to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland. He died at 7:44 p.m. in the hospital’s burn unit. Suzanne, Lewis, Issac’s brother Colin, and Colin’s girlfriend were with him when he died.

At the scene in Junction City, bystanders tried to help. “I spoke to witnesses, both in person and four or five different people online, including people who were trying to help him,” McKenna said. “In these types of situations, people don’t usually think about people outside of family who would have to be witnesses. So I just wanted to reach out and let them know that there was nothing else they could have done.”

Issac is survived by his mother and stepfather, Suzanne and Lewis Gerhardt; brothers Colin, Codon, Trevor, DJ and Sammy; sisters Kenzie, McKenna, Teyana and Ashley; and grandparents Jim and Yvonne Clem. The family suggests donations be made to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Issac’s honor.

The Suicide Prevention Coalition of Lane County says if a loved one is isolating, has extreme mood swings, increases drug or alcohol use, talks about being a burden to others or acts recklessly, these could be warning signs of suicide. The coalition advises talking to your loved one about whether they are having suicidal thoughts and calling 988 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

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