Clinton Ahlquist remembered by family

Creede, Colo., is 600 miles and light years away from Scottsdale.

The Colorado town's population of 400 is probably smaller than any school that Clinton W. Ahlquist attended in Scottsdale, where he was born in 1983.

But it was in the small town of Creede where Ahlquist found himself.

He became a star athlete and prom king, and he gained the confidence to join the Marines.

“He was lost in the crowd in Scottsdale,” said his aunt, Ann Lessard. “He loved it up there.”

So his parents, Rex and Barbara Ahlquist of Scottsdale, let him move there to live with his older cousin, Lessard's daughter. It was a benefit of having a large and close family. Lessard described her nephew as a quiet young man who “took everything in.”

“He found his element” with the Marines, she said.

Ahlquist, 23, was on his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed Feb. 20 by an improvised explosive device.

The news devastated the large and close family.

Lessard described a strong young man who took care of his family.

Last summer, she said, before driving up to Colorado, she fretted about the monsoon storms moving through the area. He helped her cover the load in her truck so well, nothing got wet.

She remembered him helping round up cows with his younger cousin. The younger child fell from his horse, but Clint swept him up from the ground.

Lessard said Ahlquist excelled in the Marines, ranking high in his class at boot camp at Camp Pendleton, north of San Diego. He planned his career so that he would be based there, close to home.

From the Republic

Related Link:
Clinton Ahlquist remembered

Related Link:
Clinton W. Ahlquist killed during combat operations