Until his funeral, only a few people knew that Thatcher Claussen was the one who painted a peace sign on an Army helicopter in 1985.
The Army, FBI and other authorities searched for what they described as “a scruffy-looking character” who’d been seen with a can of spray paint the day the chopper was on the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins.
Claussen, who was wearing long hair and a beard and old clothes, was able to elude authorities with a disguise.
A student at CSU, Claussen showed up in classes the next day clean-shaven, with his hair cut, and wearing khaki trousers, a polo shirt and carrying a tennis racket.
“When I saw him the next day he said, ” ‘Imagine that,’ ” recalled Chase Claussen of Denver, who was at CSU at the same time as his brother. “I put two and two together.”
Thatcher Claussen died Sept. 25 of a heart attack. He was 46.
It was one of many stories friends and family told at the memorial service for a man who lived with spontaneity.
Though he had graduated from Kent School in Denver and had a master’s in business from CSU, “he was a hippie, a really, really free spirit,” said his sister Gentry Claussen of New York City.
“He would have fit great in some other universe,” said his brother Stuart Claussen.
Thatcher Claussen followed the Grateful Dead all over the country for 15 years (about 170 concerts); privately studied law, science, Chinese philosophy, music and art; had a pilot’s license; and worked as a river raft guide, ski-lift operator and backpacking guide.
He’d decorate his telephone and put pictures of models or Van Gogh on the sides of room deodorizer cans, said Chase Claussen. Only once, in the past few years, did Thatcher Claussen join the establishment: He became a salesman for Comcast, said Stuart Claussen.
Thatcher Claussen never had a savings account and only “sometimes had an apartment,” said Stuart Claussen.
“If you had put him in a suit and behind a desk, he would have shriveled up,” said Gentry Claussen.
Thatcher Claussen, who lived in Denver, Aspen, Steamboat Springs and Fort Collins, “was a character but an absolutely wonderful guy,” said Stuart Claussen.
Thatcher Claussen loved music, “from Mozart to Metallica,” said Chase Claussen, and often made music CDs for family members.
He had a huge collection of music and movies and could recite large portions of movies he had watched over and over, especially Peter Sellers movies.
Always generous, he’d take quesadillas to Stuart Claussen’s office when he worked for him, and he’d visit family and friends in the hospital, always taking along a CD.
Thatcher Winston Claussen was born Nov. 11, 1961, in Denver.
In addition to his sister and brothers he is survived by two other sisters, Courtney Blatherwick of Denver and Cameron Claussen of Denver, two nieces and two nephews.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
