Clayton was a forestry management major at the University of Washington. He passed away in a tragic helicopter accident on July 16, 1973, while trying to fight a forest fire near Sulton Lake. While fighting the fire, his hose went dry, and he waved to the water pumping trucks in order to notify them. A helicopter believed he was being signaled, and in the confusion, the helicopter was pulled down onto Clayton. The helicopter crashed on him in such a way that the rotor broke his back, arm, and leg. He was gone instantly.
In his honor, his parents created the Clayton Dale Carlisle Memorial Scholarship, using the life insurance money and the wrongful death lawsuit award, as well as matching funds from IBM, his father’s employer. It is a perpetual scholarship designed to exist and help others for as long as there is any University in the state of Washington.
The Clayton Dale Carlisle Memorial Scholarship is still handed out today, nearly fifty years later.
