Wayne Robert KLETSCH

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Wayne Robert Kletsch, 92, died Dec. 19, 2012, at his Longview home.

He was born May 21, 1920, in Kelso, as the second-youngest of ninechildren born to a pioneer Cowlitz County family. His family farmed the fields along the Columbia River where industrial mills now stand. He attended grade school at Wallace Elementary and graduatedfrom Kelso High School in 1938.

Wayne joined the Marines in December 1941 and served in the Pacific region for four years during World War II.

He worked at Long-Bell Lumber Company, which later became International Paper Company. He retired after approximately 40 years of service as manager of the flakeboard plant.

He loved to fish, hunt, camp and garden. The outdoors was where he was the happiest. He was a Boy Scout leader for many years and took large troops on camping trips at least once a month, even in the winter. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and a former member ofToastmasters.

 Wayne is survived by his wife of 68 years,Norma; two children, Merrilee Bauman and Doug (Melody) Kletsch; three grandchildren, Jeff (Pam) Bauman, Brad (Heather) Bauman and Heidi (Andrew) Keimig; four great-grandchildren, Eric, Alex, Josiah and Myia Bauman; and many nieces, cousins and extended relatives.

He was preceded in death by his siblings.

A private family service has been held.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Community Home Health & Hospice, P.O. Box 2067, Longview, WA 98632.

Arrangements are by Cascade Northwest Funeral Chapel at Green Hills Memorial Gardens & Crematory.

This story about Wayne Kletsch appeared in the Sunday edition of The Longview Daily News on December 30, 2012:

Wayne Kletsch’s family helped forge Longview history.

“ He couldlook at places and say what used to be there,” said his son Doug. “He knew all the back roads. ... He knew every river in the area.”  The Kletsch family owned a farm near Fowler’s Slough, the future Lake Sacajawea, and one of Wayne’s older brothers drove a team of horses that scraped away the earth to make way for the foundation of the Monticello Hotel.  After Wayne and Norma, his wife of 68 years, were married, “You couldn’t walk down the street ... unless you meta relative by the dozen,” she said.

Wayne Robert Kletsch, 92, died Dec. 19 at his home in Longview.

One of his family’s treasures is a circa 1921 map with the name Kletsch appearing numerous times. Real estateagent Charles Kletsch — Wayne’s father — was one of the major landowners before R.A. Long built Long-Bell.

Charles and Evelyn (Allen) Kletsch were married in 1898 at the courthouse in Kalama and had nine children spread over the next 25 years. Wayne was their eighth child, born May 21, 1920, in Kelso.

After selling his land to Long-Bell, Charles moved his family to South Kelso, but lost all his money —and a fox farm in Alaska — during the Great Depression and died in 1936, when Wayne was 15 years old.  “Then he worked, washing dishes or whateverhe could to help the family,” said Wayne’s daughter, Merrilee Bauman. “He went to work for Long-Bell when he was 18,” in 1938, the year he graduated from Kelso High School.

Kletsch joined the Marine Corps in December 1941 and served four years in the Pacific during World War II. After the war, hewent back to Long-Bell, working in the laboratory in the cabinet division.  “They were experimenting and built the Flakeboard,” said his wife, Norma. “He made a doghouse that lasted forever.”  “It was the first particle board plant in the world,” his son said.  Long-Bell later became International Paper, from where Wayne retired in 1978 as manager of the Flakeboard plant.

Kletsch get-togethers were filled with laughter and reminiscence, the family said.  “When Wayne and I were married, his oldest sister was a grandmother,” Norma said. “I could not get over that.”  She said the extended family got along well and loved to share “remember when” stories. But they also liked to play practical jokes on each other, his children added.  “There was a lotof laughing,” Merrilee said.

Wayne was happiest outdoors, and he went hunting, fishing and camping inany weather, even snow and rain, his family said.  “He was a Boy Scout leader,” Norma said. “His troops were 40 and 50 kids. I don’t know how he did it.”  “And they went camping once a month. Period,” Doug said.

Kletsch’s memberships included the Longview Veterans of Foreign Wars and Toastmasters.  “He was opinionated, too,” his daughter said. “He would go to City Council meetings and write letters to the editor.”

Gardening was another passion. Kletsch kept a large vegetable garden in the back yard.  “My dad was always a very hard worker,” Merrilee said. “Even when he was sick, he loved to hand hoe. He would sit in a chair and hoe. Everything had to look just perfect in the garden.”

Wayne was so deeply rooted in the Longview-Kelso area that he rarely left it, his wife said.  “He was not one to travelmuch,” she said. “I always said whenever I got past Kalama, I got excited. There were lots of places he didn’t want to go, and I did.”  But she did get him to take a cruise to Alaska, and he finally got a glimpse of Bushy Island, where his family had once owned the fox farm, she said.  “They woke him up in the middle of the night and showed him where the island was,” she said.

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Titel	2022
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Hochgeladen	2022-09-28 15:41:41.0
Einsender	Peter Holland
E-Mail	peter@aaa-fh.com
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