KLENSKE, Raymond F. 1926-2009

KLENSKE, CODDINGTON, LIPP

Posted By: N. Wagner (email)
Date: 10/22/2009 at 19:12:46

Raymond F. Klenske age 82 of New Hampton, Iowa, died Tuesday morning, August 18, 2009, at the New Hampton Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10:30 a.m. Friday, August 21, 2009, at Holy Family Parish-St. Joseph Center, New Hampton with Msgr. Carl Schmitt celebrating the Mass. The pall will be placed by Ray's family. Bob Martin will be the cantor along with Ann Bennett as organist accompanying the Holy Family Resurrection Choir. Suellen Kolbet will the the lector and the offertory gifts will be presented by Ray's grandsons.

Interment will be in Calvary Cemetery, New Hampton, with Bob Clites, Harold Rosonke, Larry Throndson, Jim Schwickerath, Tom Schwickerath and Brad Schwickerath as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers are Ray’s friends from his coffee and lunch groups. Military honors will be conducted by the American Legion Post #38 and VFW Post 5238.

Visitation will be 3 - 8 p.m. Thursday at the Holy Family Parish - St. Joseph Center - Gathering Space, New Hampton. Further visitation continues Friday one hour prior to the service.

Hugeback & Chenoweth Funeral Home in New Hampton is in charge of the arrangements.

Ray was born October 4, 1926, in New Hampton the son of Max and Mae (Coddington) Klenske. He attended St. Mary’s Grade School and graduated from the New Hampton High School in 1944. While in high school Ray worked at the Firemen’s Theatre and Red Line Vending. In 1944 he entered military service serving during WWII with the 180th Army Ordinance Battalion headquartered in the Mid-Pacific. He was honorably discharged as a T/Sgt in 1946. After the war he returned to New Hampton as a projectionist and assistant manager at the Firemen’s Theatre. During those years he also worked for the Larkin Funeral Home and Furniture Store. He was appointed manager of the theatre in 1949 by Central States Theatre Corp. of Des Moines.

On June 26, 1950, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in New Hampton, he married Lila Lipp. To this union two sons were born. In 1956 he accepted a position on the advertising staff at the New Hampton Economist and Tribune. In 1966, Ray and Lila found themselves back in the theatre business when the Klenske and Ray Huffman families purchased the theatre. The partnership provided jobs for their children and the youth of the community during high school years. Eventually they sold the business to the Peterson Theatres of Waverly, IA. In 1968, Ray and Lila purchased the Sears-Roebuck franchise and operated an appliance and catalog store, later moving it to a building they owned on East Main Street. In 1984, he sold the Sears business and opened Rapid Printers with the slogan, “We Print Everything But Money”. He remained in the offset printing business until he retired in 1996.

Always a supporter of the local community, Ray was a member of the Chamber of Commerce and its president in 1955. He was a charter member of the New Hampton Lion’s Club when it was organized in 1951 and a former president in 1955. Ray served twelve years in City Government; as a 2nd Ward Councilman for three terms and then elected Mayor of New Hampton in 1988 where he remained in that position for an additional six years. He was a lifetime member of Holy Family Parish and served on the Parish Council at St. Joseph’s where he was a lector for many years. Memberships also include the Knights of Columbus, the American Legion and he was a Certified BBQ Judge.

Ray had so much love for New Hampton and especially enjoyed being in the public eye, whether it be with the progress of the city or just being with his coffee/lunch and fishing friends. He took great pride in his family, forever bragging about his three grandsons all being Eagle Scouts and the fact that their father, C.J., had been involved to see them attain their goals as Scoutmaster.

Ray is survived by his wife, Lila; one son, C.J. (Janice) Klenske of Dubuque; two brothers, Don Klenske of Cedar Rapids and Jim (Eleanor) Klenske of Waukon; three grandsons, Nick (Kara) Klenske of Brussels, Belgium, Jeff Klenske of Cedar Falls, Dan Klenske of Iowa City; several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his father in 1937; his mother in 1992; his son, Mark in 2000 and a brother, Joel in 1998.

Hugeback & Chenoweth Funeral Home website