Roger Lee Kloster, of Jackson, Minnesota, at the young age of 82, went to the Lord on February 10th, 2023. Roger had been diagnosed with dementia with mid-stages of Alzheimers in the Fall of 2021 and passed away from the disease at Generations Memory Care in Mankato, Minnesota.
Roger was born June 11th, 1940. He was raised on a farm north of LeMars, Iowa, with one brother and five sisters. He attended school at Fredonia #1 country school through the 8th grade (1/2 mile from the family farm) and graduated from LeMars High school in 1959. He attended post high school education at Westmar College, DeVrey Tech School in Chicago for electronics and extended training with NCR Electronics in Dayton, Ohio. He served in the South Dakota Air National Guard and was active-duty training for 18 months, but never deployed. He served his country in the SD ANG proudly for six more years as a weekend warrior. During his early life,Roger worked road construction in various locations around Iowa and South Dakota and worked the Kloster family farm.
Roger and Sherry met on a blind date, and it didn’t take long for him to pop the question. Roger married Cheryl (Sherry) Chase on July 31, 1964. To this union of 58 years, they welcomed son Troy (Jill) and Katrina (Rick Cox). Seven grandchildren have been welcomed over the years: Joshua, Rebekah, Sarah,Jeremiah (Kloster) and Savannah, Caitlyn and Kylee (Cox). During the early part of their marriage Roger worked for Dictaphone Company; following that he was hired on with National Cash Register Company (NCR) as Computer Engineer where he worked for 30 years. Roger had a knackfor fixing items. If it was broken, he would fix it! He was a problem solver.
He and Sherry lived in various places in mid-west Iowa before settling down on a farm east of Hinton to raise their family, raising livestock and crops. He also worked full time for NCR on top of that! A memorable piece of life was that of a three-month work trip with NCR to help train workers in Australia, in 1989. Following retirement – Roger and Sherry took on the good life and built their dream house on a lake in Minnesota. This brought them closer to their son yet close enough to help care for his mother and Sherry’s dad. Roger attended the American Legion meetings with his good friend, Jim Egeland, in Jackson, Minnesota. In addition to living the lake life,Roger and Sherry decided that the weather in the north was too cold and decided to fly south for the winter. They purchased a small trailer in Mission, Texas, and flew the coop for over 25 years enjoying many memories with new friends at Heritage Square Park.
Roger was well known for his joking antics, fun personality and talking! Everyone that knew him could be welcome into his family. Roger never turned down a piece of cake, cookies, or ice-cream. He was a man of God and was always willing to lift a hand. He loved his family and grandkids. He was a kid magnet, and they would gravitate towards him especially with his jokes and cut the pickle handshake! He loved his brother and sisters and nieces and nephews. Roger and Sherry enjoyed road trips across the country to many family weddings and reunions. He loved music and was part of the Sioux City BarberShoppers for many years. He was always a teacher of frugalness, common sense, andthe work ethic. “Always work hard and life will pay off.” “Save your pennies and the dollars will add up.” He loved the Lord, studied the Bible, and prayed daily and was faithful in going to church. He and Sherry were members of the Wesleyan Church in Sioux City for over 30 years.
In addition to Sherry, Troy, Katrina, and the grandchildren, Roger is also survived by his siblings: Judy Brunn, Marilyn Bayles, Sharon Sumners, and Twila (Kloster) Miller (Tom).
Roger was preceded in death by his father and mother- Nis and Emma (Smeenk) Kloster, infant sister Harriet, brother -Gilbert Kloster (Jayne), nephew -Michael Kloster, father-in-law Kenneth Chase, mother-in-law Genevieve (Clark) Chase, step mother-in-law Katie (Bohlmann) Chase, brother-in-law John Thomas Chase (Joyce), brother-in-law Alvin Brunn (Judy). He was also preceded in death by many loving aunts and uncle as well as his cousins, Dave Nielsen and Merlyn Smeenk. Family meant the world to him.
Visitation was March 24th,5:00-7:00,followed by a prayer service at 7:00 at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel. Funeral services were held at Meyer Brothers Colonial Chapel (3220 Stone Park Blvd, Sioux City, IA 51104) on March 25th,at 10:00,with Dave Campbell officiating. Burial followed at Rademacher Hungerford Cemetery East of Hinton, Iowa (near old Kloster farm). A reception/lunch was held at the Hinton Community Hallin Hinton, Iowa.
For those who were unable to attend the funeral service, the Meyer Brothers website, meyerbroschapels.com, will have a link to view the YouTube funeral service. Roger will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and all who knew him.