Obituary of Larry Kleen

Our brother Larry Herman Kleen was born December 9, 1948, the youngest of five children of Herman & Goldie Kleen of Pomeroy, Iowa. He was baptized at St. John's Lutheran Church in Pomeroy, brother Merle and sister Bonita as sponsors. He attended school at Sherman Township #9 School in Calhoun County, and Pomeroy Elementary School, then moved with his family to Lake Park in 1957 where he graduated from Lake Park High School in 1967. He was a member of Concordia Lutheran Church where he was confirmed in 1963. During school years Larry worked as assistant to the printer at the Lake Park News, also, at the gas station and other jobs. After graduation he worked at McQuay's in Spirit Lake until he and his cousin and very good friend Gary Kleen moved to Red Wing, Minnesota, where Larry worked as a printer at Munson Printing. In 1974 he moved west to San Jose, California. Larry had a passion for and understood the mechanics of engines, he excelled in high performance engine work and was engaged in building, repairing and re-building auto motors, boat motors and race engines. His work on one particular job was mentioned in an article of Super Chevy Magazine. In July 1983 he married Leslie Overton, and they had a daughter Jamie. The couple were later divorced. In 2014 Larry moved to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho where he re-established a relationship with Coryn Conlin, a friend of many years ago. Growing up in Iowa, Larry loved pulling pranks on sisters and friends and often got into mischief for the sole purpose of having fun. Throughout his adult life he valued hard work, personal freedoms and kept a positive attitude, looking on the bright side no matter what life threw at him. One of his favorite things included a little dog named Noodles. Larry was preceded in death by his mother Goldie (Reil) Kleen in June 1996; father Herman Kleen in December 1998; sister Bonita (Kleen) Schmidt in March 2002; brother Merle Kleen in August 2016; brother-in-law Woody Peterson in May 2012; former brother-in-law Irvin Schmidt in April 1994; former sister-in-law Yvonne (Elsen) Kleen in October 2007; and friend Coryn Conlin in December 2016. He is survived by daughter Jamie Ann Kleen and granddaughter Andrea Lydia Kleen Caldera (both of California); sister Karan (Kleen) Peterson of Pomeroy; sister Linda (Kleen) Lowry & brother-in-law James Lowry of Oklahoma; nieces and nephews --- Rita (Kleen) Atencio, Lynn Kleen, Denise (Kleen) Dix and Todd Kleen (all of Montana); Kristi Schmidt and Scott Schmidt (both of Montana); Terry Peterson, Mark Peterson, Craig Peterson and Celeste (Peterson) Johnson (of Nevada and Colorado); and Jeanne (Lowry) Barnett of Texas; their spouses and families; also many cousins of Iowa and Minnesota. Larry passed into heaven Feb 26th, in the evening, and now he is with the Lord. He loved all his family, and we all loved him. We celebrate his life, and he will be sorely missed by those of us left behind. Condolences may be addressed to Rita Atencio, 468 Mill Creek Road, Hamilton, MT 59840.