Family, friends recall Santa Rosa homeless man as 'a bright, bright light' Family, friends recall Santa Rosa homeless man as 'a bright, bright light'

Josh Clark was living in the margins and on the streets of Santa Rosa for the last year of his life, circumstances belying the central role the 37-year-old man had within his Marin County family and community.

Described as smart, funny and generous, Clark’s charisma helped forge his place in a tight-knit Mill Valley community where he graduated from Tamalpais High School in 1997. Those traits would, years later, build his reputation as kind and giving among people living at downtown Santa Rosa homeless encampments.

Clark’s family and friends will gather today to celebrate his life at Our Lady Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Mill Valley.

“Josh is an extraordinarily loved human being,” said his mother, Susan Radelt, 70, of Fairfax.

Her son died on May 26, five days after he was attacked at Rae Park in downtown Santa Rosa off Sonoma Avenue. He suffered traumatic brain injuries during the assault, which doctors eventually determined were irreparable. He was surrounded by family at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital when the medical team transitioned from life-saving measures to organ donation.

Clark’s family expects scores of people to gather today for the memorial service, Radelt said.

Clark grew up in Lucas Valley and Mill Valley. He attended San Diego Mesa College and earned a degree in political science from UC San Diego in 2005.

In addition to his mother, Clark is survived by a 9-year-old daughter, his father Kim Clark of Port Townsend, Wash., and brother Damon Clark and sister Lynsey Clark of Oakland.

Radelt said that Clark struggled with alcoholism for the last decade of his life.

He experienced a series of setbacks over the last several years and, despite attempts by family and friends to help him, had been homeless in Santa Rosa for about one year.

It was Clark’s birthday on May 22 when he was attacked in what Santa Rosa police have described as an unprovoked and brutal assault by a 20-year-old man, also said to be homeless.

Thomas Borbeck, 20, was originally jailed on suspicion of felony assault but after Clark died prosecutors amended the complaint to add a murder charge. Borbeck remains at the Sonoma County Jail without bail. He’s expected to enter a plea on Friday.

On a recent day at Rae Park, several people who identified themselves as homeless said they had known Clark for about seven months. They shared memories of the man who always seemed to give away what few food or supplies like blankets he had. A 20-year-old woman who only gave her first name, Lexi, said he was always asking people if they had what they needed.

“I honestly think he spent half his day thinking and figuring out how to help everyone else around him,” Lexi said. “He was a bright, bright light.”

Memorial services for Clark will be held at 1 p.m. today at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, 3 Oakdale Ave., Mill Valley.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.