Ehren Clark

1973 - 2017

1973 ~ 2017
Ehren was born on December 9, 1973 in Provo, which is ironic since he is the only Ute in a family of Cougars. From an early age, Ehren was a sensitive boy. He was inquisitive, bright, creative and quick. At the end of high school, he confirmed what we all had known for a while- that he was gay. His conservative Mormon family and community responded with love and support.
If you knew Ehren, you know the man could write. His mind was quick and his words inspiring and thought provoking. Ehren worked as the the Senior Fashion writer at Fashionphile, on his own blog Mormon Existentialism and he wrote personally & prolifically to family and friends. But his passion was writing about the Utah Art Community. Nothing brought him more satisfaction than his work as "Utah's Art Critic". Oh how he loved seeing his words published on 15 Bytes, in City Weekly or Deseret News to name a few. He lived for the gallery strolls, museum crawls and every part of the process of interviewing and writing on the Utah artists that he admired so much.
Ehren loved people. He was fiercely loyal and generous beyond his means. If you got together with Ehren for lunch or a chat, he had something for you. He'd wrap it up and gift it with enthusiasm and a story. He was an avid collector of treasures which he packed into the tiny downtown SLC apartment home that he cherished so much. It was a tidy, full and fascinating place, carefully curated wall to wall, floor to ceiling with stacks of his favorite books and all of the "treasures" that he selected from his almost daily trips to DI.
Ehren loved his branch in Salt Lake. He was loved back and felt at home there. Throughout his life he was blessed with the ability to find friends that he called family all around him. He once said, "My faith in life, myself and those around me, most specifically my family, and my family everywhere… Adam, Tony from 7-11, Trista from Big Lots, Ken Sanders, Diane etc. etc. etc. there are billions- and I believe that as this family feels and understands me, my faith is elevated to belief."
But most of all, Ehren loved his family. He adored his nieces and nephews and will be missed terribly by Izzie, Aerie, Ike, Zoie, Sean, Ella, Owen, Quinn, Nikki, Brady, Brooke, Drew, Jace, Josie, Jonas, Justus, Atticus and Rosie. He showered them with gifts, love, attention and most importantly, time. He was very close with his sisters Sarah and Emily and his brothers Reuben, Jesse and David. And finally, he cherished his relationship with his parents, Eugene and Joanne Clark. We are all broken hearted at his passing.
Ehren suffered from schizoaffective disorder for the past 23 years. His mental illness robbed him of so much in his life. He was never satisfied with how his medications were working and wanted so desperately to achieve the goals he'd set for himself before his mind failed him. Unfortunately, he thought he knew better than his prescribers and constantly tweaked his prescriptions. He was wrong and he paid the ultimate price for it. Did you know that accidental overdoses of prescription medications kill more people every year than deaths from all illegal drugs combined? More people in our country die from accidental overdose of prescription drugs than die in automobile accidents. For whatever reason, if it was acquired by prescription, we assume it's less powerful and less likely to be potentially deadly if misused. That's not true. Something needs to be done. Our family will miss time together with Ehren, daily FaceTimes, mega-texts and lengthy emails. But the words "rest in peace" have never sounded so serene.