A centenarian farmer: Clemens Kloeckner
By Rhonda Dedyne
May 7 is a special date for our family – the birthday of our father, Clemens Kloeckner, and his son-in-law, Duane Stearns.
Daddy would be 100 years old, probably not an age he was interested in attaining, but we were all blessed to have him with us through his birthday in 2003. He passed away May 22, just three weeks after that final birthday which was a bittersweet time for all of us – we knew it would be the last year he and Duane observed their joint birthday together.
We miss him dearly, but take comfort in the many wonderful memories of birthdays past – like his 80th in 1994. Both he and Duane are clearly overshadowed in the traditional “birthday cake” photo by a smiling and happy Amelie Stearns, the first great-granddaughter for my parents and also first grandchild for Duane and my sister, Sherry. Amelie was a cutie pie then and is just as beautiful today as she helps her Grandpa observe his 75th birthday – a fact that Duane most likely wishes I had not publicized.
Fortunately, he’s accustomed to me giving him a hard time. As the “little kid sister,” I was pretty much a nuisance to Duane and my sister during the years they were dating in the late 1950s – they were the coolest couple in my young eyes, a fact that has never changed.
Thinking about my dad’s birthday led to a search through columns I’ve written about our family over the years. My mom was a saver of “Random Notes,” clipping the stories from whatever newspaper I happened to be working for at the time and compiling them into a folder that she said was “for your kids to read someday.”
Re-published here is one of those columns that appeared in May 1992. Titled “Spring: farming, family, faith,” it’s an accurate description of my dad and what was most meaningful in his life. The same principles that guided him and shaped his life are true for the many farm families who continue to make our community strong.
So, Happy Birthday Daddy – and Duane, too.
We love you.
Spring: farming, family, faith
Wasn’t last Saturday a beautiful day?
Warm sun , nice breeze, blue sky – how could you ask for more.
I took advantage of the lovely weather to get most of the garden planted, thanks to some advance tilling help from Dale Martens. Even though he had plenty of work that had to be finished before his corn and soybeans could be planted, he took the time to make sure the garden was dragged at the same time he was doing the field next to it.
While I was putting in tomato plants and sowing lettuce and flower seeds, Dale and his sons, Kevin and Jim, were creating a cloud of dust getting fields ready.
The image of tractors with dust billowing behind reminded me of the spring and summer several years ago that turned out to be labeled a “drought.” Who knows what this growing season will bring – certainly not farmers.
That thought in turn led me to recall the farmers who I’ve visited with over the past several years as a writer for this newspaper (my mind wanders quite a bit while I’m doing jobs in the yard).
I’ve had a chance to talk with conservation-minded farmers like Wilbur Thurston and Bob Moore, both of whom were named Farmer of the Year by the Soil Conservation Service of Clinton County. From time to time I run into Wilbur at various functions and I value his opinion on issues pertinent to our county – but, I still haven’t taken him up on an offer to go fishing at his farm pond.
Men like Wilbur and Bo, and Alden Livingston who I became acquainted with through the St. Johns Rotary Club, have reinforced the belief in the importance of preserving the land that I inherited from my father, Clemens Kloeckner, and all the past generations of our family.
Although he turned 78 on May 7, my dad was out in the field last week, getting his fields ready to plant – I think that’s pretty amazing. Each year it gets harder and harder for him to decide if he wants to give it a try, but so far he’s been able to do most of the tilling and planting himself – mostly because he’s so particular about how things are done that no one, not even my brother, can do a job in the field exactly to his satisfaction.
And, even though he would never admit it, I think deep down he just plain enjoys being out on the tractor and is thankful that he can still do things himself.
There’s a streak of stubborn German pride that runs through our family, just the same as so many other people in this area – tradition and heritage have a very real meaning.
My mental wandering carried me from one thought to the next, from one person or event to another – all during the time it took to plant a vegetable garden. Now, if only it would rain a little – a nice, gentle rain, please. That’s another family trait (I think to myself) and not always a very good one – never being quite satisfied with things as they are.
I guess I should take some advice I got recently from a co-worker, Paul Mulford: “Things always have a way of working out. Somebody knows better than we do what’s best for us – we have to trust in Him.”
That’s good advice to apply in any situation from rain for crops and gardens, to problems in our homes and at work, to the state of our nation in some fairly troubled times.
Thanks, Paul. I’ll take you up on that good counsel.
Published May 1992, Clinton County News