Isaac “Ike” Merlin Clickman

Isaac “Ike” Merlin Clickman

Isaac “Ike” Merlin Clickman, an upbeat man who served in Iraq during the war, died before his time — at the age of 37 — on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015.

“He had sudden cardiac arrest,” stricken in his Buckhannon, West Virginia home, his mother said. He was taken to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, West Virginia where he died.

His mother, Joanne Bushnell of East Berne, got the call telling her that her son was stricken. The phone was held to his ear in the hospital as he was hooked up to life-support machines. “I told him, ‘If you’re in there, let us know,’” she recalled tearfully. The doctors said there was nothing to be done to revive him, she said.

He died at 2:02 p.m., Mrs. Bushnell said, so she has scheduled his service at the Westerlo Reformed Church on Nov. 14, and a moment of silence will be observed at that time.

Mr. Clickman was born on Aug. 23, 1978, in Albany. “He was raised in East Berne, the youngest of three brothers. “He’s my baby,” said Mrs. Bushnell.

He weighed almost 10 pounds at birth and continued to be large all his life. He was over six feet tall and muscular, his mother said.

As a kid, and throughout his life, he had a passion for fast wheels and adventure. “He loved riding dirt bikes and motorcycles,” said his mother.

He often rode his dirt bike in a Hilltown shale pit. Once, he was accidently run over by a friend after he fell off his bike.

“He had to get stitches on his leg, but it didn’t bother him,” said his mother. “He kept the white T-shirt that had the track mark on it.”

“They were boys,” she said of her sons, their friends — some as close as her own sons — and their exploits.

Mr. Clickman loved to work out as he blasted the rock music of Pantera, Green Day, and AC/DC. One of his closest friends — they lifted weights together — died from use of steroids. “This greatly saddened Ike,” his mother said.

“He loved cars,” Mrs. Bushnell said, and he worked for a time in his brother’s auto shop in Delmar. “He loved working on cars — the usual boy stuff,” said Mrs. Bushnell. “He had a red Mustang — that was his baby.”

Mr. Clickman also liked driving tractors and worked on local farms, for Ken Crawford and Charlie Garry, his mother said.

Mr. Clickman had “lots and lots of friends” in high school, she said, describing him as a “party animal.”

Growing up, Mr. Clickman also liked to hunt. “He’d hunt deer, but his passion was turkey,” said his mother. He once had her hold, by the feet, a turkey he had shot. She stands 5 feet, 2 inches tall, and said, “That turkey was as big as me.”

“We ate everything they shot,” she said of her three sons. “They ate squirrel, rabbit, whatever they could shoot to eat.” Alone among her sons, though, Mrs. Bushnell said of her youngest, “He stuck with it.”

Mr. Clickman graduated from Berne-Knox-Westerlo in 1996. “Right after high school, he joined the Army,” his mother said. “He started out in communications. He got to drive generals around.”

While stationed in the South, he fell in love with April Renae Amelotte; they were married on Feb. 24, 2002. She had a son, Joshua Amelotte, whom Mr. Clickman adored. “He was Josh’s hero,” said Mrs. Bushnell.

The couple also had a daughter, Kaleigh. “She turned 13 on Nov. 5, just six days after her father died,” said Mrs. Bushnell.

Mr. Clickman was stationed in Iraq during the war, his mother said.

While in the Army, he hurt his back and had to have two surgeries, but the pain was not alleviated, she said. He was honorably discharged from the United States Army with the rank of sergeant, his mother said.

His wife suffers from diabetes and has been hospitalized twice since Mr. Clickman died, said Mrs. Bushnell. She worries how his family will get on without him. “He kept everyone going,” she said — herself included.

She said her son taught her “to try to be happy.”

She concluded, “He was always on the phone, saying, ‘Take care of yourself.’”

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Isaac “Ike” Merlin Clickman is survived by his wife, April Renae Amelotte Clickman; his daughter, Kaleigh Clickman, of Buckhannon, West Virginia; his son, Joshua Amelotte and his son’s fiancée, Sondra Sprouse, and his grandson, Kal-El Amelotte, all of Buckhannon.

He is survived by his mother, Joanne Bushnell, and her husband, Robert “Buff” Bushnell, both of Westerlo, and also by his father, Allan Clickman, also of Westerlo.

He is also survived by his two brothers: Allan Levi Clickman and his wife, Tara, and their children, Shelby and Matthew, all of East Berne; and Jason Lee Clickman, and his wife, Amanda, and their sons, Levi and Jerald, all of Westerlo. He is survived, too, by a stepbrother, Robert Bushnell Jr., and his children, Adisynne and Robert III, all of East Berne.

He is also survived by his grandmothers, Marietta Brush, and her husband, Chet, and Eileen Clickman. His grandfathers, Rudolf Hanzlik and Levi Clickman, died before him.

He is survived by his mother-in-law, Diane L. Pringle, of French Creek, West Virginia and by his father-in-law, Charlie Pringle, of French Creek; three sisters-in-law and their families: Melissa and Bill Paradis and their children, Kaitlyn and Dakota, all of Maine; Valerie Enaire of Buckhannon and her daughter, Mariah, of Maine; Brenda and Tim Sines and their children, Chasity and Maceala, of Buckhannon; and by his brother-in-law, Chuck Pringle, and his wife, Cathy, and their daughter, Journey, of French Creek.

A funeral was held at the Heavner & Cutright Funeral Chapel in Buckhannon, West Virginia on Monday, Nov. 2, with Rev. Wease Day officiating. The Upshur County Honor Guard conducted military honors at the funeral chapel following the service.

At the conclusion of the service, the family honored his wishes for cremation.

A service will be held on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 1:30 p.m. at the Westerlo Reformed Church at 566 State Route 143 in Westerlo. A moment of silence will be held at 2:02 p.m., the time he died, his mother said. Her uncle, Rev. Jerry Adinolfi, will officiate along with the church’s pastor, Rev. Christine Allen.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Westerlo Reformed Church, 566 State Route 143, Westerlo, NY  12193.

— Melissa Hale-Spencer

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