Frank A. Klement

CORVALLIS - Frank A. Klement, 75, of Corvallis died unexpectedly at home on Feb. 2, 2014, after 6 months of failing health. He was 75 years of age.

He was born April 9, 1938 in Hearne, Texas. He graduated from Hearne High School in 1956. He graduated from Texas A&M in 1960 with a degree in Civil Engineering.

After college graduation, he began his career of over 32 years with the U. S. Forest Service, in the Engineering Department. During those years he worked on the Clearwater, Bitterroot, Lewis and Clark, and Deer Lodge National Forests and Region 1 in Missoula.

Shortly after beginning his Forest Service career in Orofino, Idaho, his National Guard troop was called up for the Berlin Crisis.

He married Lois Mueller in Missoula on Dec. 27, 1964. They would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year.

In 1966, they moved from Orofino, where Brenda was born, to Hamilton where Karen was born. After being transferred to Missoula, they raised the girls in the Florence area for 19 years before moving to Butte where Frank retired in 1993. They then moved to their present retirement home in the Corvallis area in 1996.

Frank was one of those persons who could do almost anything. Woodworking, drawing house plans, doing electrical wiring projects, fixing all sorts of things around the house, making and repairing clocks, putting in a lawn irrigation system, planting trees - to mention a few. He was a quiet-type person with a "quick wit".

He loved music - particularly Western and Gospel. He liked the bagpipes and knew a lot about Classical music. The Statler Brothers were favorites for years. He thought the reruns of "Hee-Haw" and the "Gaither Hour" were the best TV programs on today.

He didn't like to fly (and that started in the days before Sept. 11th). So, he and Lois would take long driving trips. He would use State Roads and back roads and go through the towns, driving on Interstates very seldom. He drove every mile himself.

He thought Ford trucks were the best. He liked guns and bird hunting; squirrel and deer hunting in the younger Texas years. He was very knowledgeable about World War II. Omar N. Bradley was his hero.

He did not like plumbing projects. He did not like being asked his "level of pain" at a medical center.

He was always proud to be a Texan, but never wanted to move back.

He leaves behind: wife, Lois; daughter Brenda (Sam, Keiandra, Keimarya) of Canton, Georgia; daughter Karen (Kristopher) of Billings; brother Louis Klement of Troy, Texas; several nieces and nephews, and brother-in-law Alan Mueller of Missoula. Two brothers preceded him in death.

Memorials may be sent to the Daly Hospital Intensive Care Unit Fund at 1200 Westwood Drive in Hamilton.