George Martin “Jody” Clausen

George Martin Clausen, “Jody”, was born December 18, 1960. He died November 15, 2023 at the James River Nursing Home in Newport News.
Tragically, he lived a nonlife, a life of suffering due to schizophrenia. He was a heartbreak to his family who loved him and watched helplessly as his life’s hopes and dreams crumbled over time. Jody was 15 years old when he had his first psychotic break, but the disorder began years before with the onset of auditory hallucinations, withdrawal, and isolation from others. He was a very intelligent, creative boy who graduated near the top of his South Brunswick High School class in New Jersey. As a freshman in High School he did research in Biology at Trenton State College and planned to become a scientist. He managed to attend one year of Rutgers University in New Jersey before slipping into a life of recurring psychiatric hospitalizations due to his nightmarish hallucinations and delusions. He moved to Gloucester, Virginia in 1994 and lived with his parents, then weeks at a time with his sister and brother-in-law in Yorktown. In 2011 he entered Cary Avenue Adult Home, transferring to James River Nursing home six months ago.
Jody was a gentle, unassuming adult, appreciative of any kindness, and apologetic for “being a failure”. He could be funny; his puns and loose associations were both amusing and sad. He believed he was an angel, his rainbow colored wings “in the other dimension”, and that he longed only to use them to fly. The tormenting, relentless voices in his head made him attentive to those hauntings, laugh inappropriately, or become annoyed when distracted by others’ chatter. His whole world was locked inside his head. His outside world included wandering through the woods, smoking cigarettes, and drinking cup after cup of coffee. Prior to a heart attack in 2009, he enjoyed the freedom of riding his Moped in Gloucester, Virginia, photographing nature, and planting his garden. He never married. He never had a girlfriend. He never had a permanent job or career, despite his ongoing longings.
Jody was preceded in death by his parents, George W. Clausen and Betty L. Clausen and over the years, three black cats, all of whom he named Cookie. He is survived by his sister, Suzanne E. Brassel, his brother-in-law, Alfred L. Brassel and his niece Valery Brinda of New York City, her husband, Mark, and their three children, Dakota, Sheaden and Ashton; his uncle John Clausen and his family in Princeton, New Jersey, and cousins, including Robert Clausen and his family in Delaware, as well as, his dear cousin Jeanne Erceg and the rest of his mother’s family in Australia.
In lieu of flowers his family asks that donations be made to Mental Health research. Hopefully, one of these days, there will be a cure for schizophrenia, a most terrible, chronic brain disorder that robs a soul of a life, and a family of a loved one.
Shuffling and scuffling and slouching through the halls, Talking to the wind, the trees, and the vibrating walls. Lost to the world, in a dimension of his own, A kingdom of oneness, in a realm all alone.