Lowell H. Kleckner

Lowell Henry Kleckner, the son of Henry Clarence Kleckner and Opal Merle (Torney) Kleckner, was born February 9, 1933, near Riceville in Northeast Iowa. He passed away Wednesday, March 20, 2019, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska, at the age of eighty-six.
Lowell attended a rural one-room school (Jamestown No. 8) through the 8th grade and then graduated from Riceville High School in 1951. After being drafted, he served in the United States Army from 1953 to 1955. He attended Iowa State University from 1956 to 1960 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Engineering in 1960. His position as a civil engineer with the Soil Conservation Service brought him to Denison in 1961. His work involved designing many dams and ponds in Crawford, Harrison and Shelby counties. He was also involved in the design of the dams at Yellowsmoke and Nelson Parks.
On December 28, 1968, Lowell was united in marriage with Sharen Claussen at Zion Lutheran Church in Denison, Iowa, and they were blessed with four children: Kelly, Shawn, Heidi and Lance. The couple lived in Denison from 1968 to 1974. In 1972, they bought a 184-acre farm in Section 29 in Goodrich Township from Ione Hollrah four miles northwest of Denison along Highway 59. After constructing a house on the farm, they moved there in September of 1974. After Lowell retired from the Soil Conservation Service in December of 1988, they became involved in farming and had a beef cow-calf operation and a dairy goat enterprise.
Lowell was a member of Zion Lutheran Church in Denison where he served as treasurer for more than thirty years. He was also a member of the American Legion and the local genealogy society. Lowell enjoyed the peacefulness of rural living and playing his guitar.
Lowell was preceded in death by his parents; one grandson, Diego Ceballos-Kleckner; and one brother, Richard Kleckner. Survivors include: his wife of fifty years, Sharen Kleckner of Denison, Iowa; two daughters, Kelly Kleckner of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Heidi Standridge and her husband, Daniel; two sons, Shawn Kleckner and his wife, Phenister of Boone, Iowa, and Lance Kleckner and his wife, Sandy of Denison, Iowa; eleven grandchildren; two brothers, Gordon Kleckner and his wife, LaRae and Wilbur Kleckner and his wife, Laura all of Riceville, Iowa; and other relatives and friends.