Dozens of family members, friends, fraternity brothers and other community members came to Evans Chapel on Feb. 17 to memorialize Clay Claus, a past DU undergraduate student who died on Feb. 3 in a hiking accident according to an obituary from Gorman Funeral Homes and Monuments.

Claus studied electrical engineering while at DU and was also a Daniels Fund Scholar, Kappa Sigma fraternity brother and an active member of the campus community according to Mike Muscatello, one of Claus’s fraternity brothers.

“Clay loved school, and was an eager participant,” said Muscatello. “He also enjoyed Boy Scouts, singing, fishing, hunting, working and playing on the farm.”

The obituary from Gorman Funeral Homes and Monuments indicated that Claus had to leave DU in May 2011 due to health issues.

In honor of his hard work at DU, Robert Whitman, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, presented Claus’s family with Claus’s degree in electrical engineering on behalf of both DU and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

“He was truly a wonderful man among men, and will be greatly missed,” said Muscatello. “Clay is waiting and watching over us in heaven ready to greet us with his great big bear hug and winning smile.”

Muscatello has set up a fundraiser in Claus’s memory, and Claus’s family is having all proceeds donated to Bi-Polar Research in Claus’s name. You can donate to the Clay Roscoe Claus Memorial Fundraiser.

The memorial was concluded with the attendees singing “Amazing Grace.”

A reception took place in the Kappa Sigma fraternity house after the memorial.

Edited on 3/4/15. Added sources: Gorman Funeral Homes and Monuments