Richard A. Kloewer

Richard "Dick" Anthony Kloewer was born on April 13, 1935 to Frank and Cecilia
Kloewer of Westphalia, IA. He had six (6) siblings. Mick Blum, Irene Blum, Marlene
Eggerling, Duane Kloewer, Judy Peters and Joyce (Joe)Wageman. He went to school
in Westphalia and graduated from St. Boniface High School in 1953.

Dick was a hard working boy, shucking oats and picking corn on the farm with his sister,
Marlene. They found plenty of time for a game of basketball between chores. Dick was
always a bit of a prankster with his siblings. He liked pulling pranks, like the time he
hoisted his brother-in-law's corn picker up to the hay mount in the barn. Dick was also a
fun big brother to Joyce, often carrying her on his shoulders. Dick was always a good
audience. His siblings would entertain him and he always smiled and nodded with
enthusiasm. Dick never turned down the opportunity to play cards, Pinochle was one of
his favorites.

Dick met Alice (Sonderman) while roller skating and started their courtship. Dick
picked up his carpentry skills, when he and friend, Joe remodeled the farmhouse, He
often teased his brother Duane that he would leave him in the attic, after a hard day's
work.

Dick moved with two other friends to Colorado in 1956 because they heard there was
an opportunity for some hard working farm kids in a local factory. He traveled back and
forth to see Alice.

Dick and Alice were married on June 17, 1957. Dick was drafted in the US Army in
January of 1958. He did his basic training in Fort Hood, TX. He was in basic training
with Elvis Presley. Dick said he was a really cordial guy and would serenade the troops
in the evening. Dick served his time in the Army in Alaska building base camps. He
was given the advice to tell the Army that he was a strong farm kid that knew Carpentry
really well. It kept him from serving outside of the US. Dick & Alice welcomed their first
son, Ron in October of 1958, while Dick was still stationed in Alaska. Dick and Alice
had five 5 kids. Ronald or Ron (Melanie) of Englewood, CO, Kenneth (Christine) of
Centennial, CO, Mary (Eric) of Castle Pines, CO, Robbie (Laura) of Centennial, CO and
Karen (Craig) of Denver, CO. They have 10 grandchildren, Chris (Jenn), Brad (Anna),
Tim, Cianna, Michael, Shannon (Kyle), Randy, Nick (Samson), Nate (Melissa) and Seth,
and 8 great grand-children- Emory, Hazel, Samantha, John, Sullivan, Glaleanna,
Jameson and Riley and four step grandchildren- Morgan (Chirstian), Katherine (Ryan),
Hope and Christopher.

When Dick was discharged from the Army, he returned to Iowa to meet Ron for the first
time and asked Alice if she would like to build their life in Colorado where there was a
lot of opportunity for work. They started their life in a little home on Bannock Street,
near Hampden. They rented their basement out to Judy Cunningham, who became
their life-long friend. They purchased their first home in 1961. Dick and Alice instilled
a hard work ethic in all of their children. They became Landlords in the early 1960's of
which they still have some of those properties today. Dick was a very skilled Finish
Carpenter. Many of you have seen the fine woodworking that he did at their home in
Englewood on Elati Street, right down to the last birdhouses that he made up until
November 2023. Dick started his carpentry career building and remodeling 7-11
stores in Colorado and went off to work for Joe Howard Construction and then Jean
Braught Construction, where he retired in 1997.

After retirement, Dick stayed busy with all of the clubs that he and Alice were part of.
They started with the Starchasers, a motorhome group that spent many weekends out
of the year camping in their rigs, playing games and enjoying good food and good
company. Dick belonged to the Mile High Railroad Club, in which he built an elaborate
display in his garden each year and incorporated it into his Christmas display. He loved
his rose garden, named the "Rosebud Railroad". He tended to his roses all the time
and loved bringing them into Alice to put in a vase and on display in the house.

Anyone that knows Dick, knows that he loved Christmas! This started when he was a
teenager, when he and friend, Jim, would play Santa and visit other families in the
neighborhood, which sometimes ended with holiday libations! The Kloewer family had a
30 year tradition of building one of Englewood's largest and most unique Christmas
displays. This was mostly because he made a lot of the decorations by hand and built
motors for many of the displays using bicycle parts as cranks. The display was featured
on the Today Show in 2002 and made it to the top three (3) finalists. Though they did
not win, it sure was a fun ride! In 2003 the display was featured on HGTV's Crazy for
Christmas. Dick was so busy with Christmas lights that the family changed their
Christmas gathering to the Sunday before Christmas, so everyone could attend,
including Dick.

Throughout his life, Dick had a grand love affair with nature, especially birds! He loved
his little finches the most. He could watch the birds for hours and spend a lot of time
making sure they were happy at his home. Especially in his later years, he built so
many bird houses. Most people that knew Dick, own one of their own. He took great
pride in building these little houses and taught Mary Beth, his former daughter-in-law
and Caretaker after Mom passed, his art and together they filled their summer with lots
of joy!

Dick lost the love of his life, Alice in April 2021 and his son, Ken in November 2023. Life
got hard the last few years, but Dick was resilient. His family gathered around him and
gave him the best life he could have. He spent many hours in the front yard, greeting
neighbors and taking a stroll around the block. His happy places were his garage and
his garden.

In lieu of flowers, please consider the following options for donations:

The Knights of Columbus
or
Send donations to the Kloewer Family at Richard's address payable to the City of Englewood:
The Family would like to place a bench and tree, next to Alice's bench and tree at Belleview Park in Englewood.