Joel Klingensmith

Joel was born at home in rural Adams County Colorado on Thanksgiving day, 1932. He was the sixth of seven children of Katherine and Earl Klingensmith. Except for the 4 years he served in the Navy he lived all his life in Colorado. Soon after his discharge from the Navy he married Jeanne DiMeglio and they were two peas in a pod for the next 67 years. While Jeanne was the first love of his life, fishing was his second. He spent time as a truck driver and a postal carrier but after retirement from the Denver Federal Center he and Jeanne spent summers in their travel trailer anywhere in Colorado where the fish were biting. His philosophy was to eat a few and put the rest back so they could be a bigger catch the next year. By his own admission he didn’t care much for the Colorado winters so they migrated south in their trailer to Brownsville, Texas. Their visits to other places always ended in a return to the same address and phone number they had for 64 years. Joel was preceded in death a mere 3 weeks by his wife Jeanne. Also, by his parents, as well as brothers David, Robert, Paul, Earl Klingensmith and sister Shirley Pitt. He is survived by his brother Myron, nephews Gary, Greg, Ray, John, Jim and Chet Klingensmith and nieces Lydia Klingensmith, Pam Ribley, Shelle Clarke.

A committal ceremony will take place at Fort Logan National Cemetery on Friday, April 29th, at 10am. If you plan on attending, please arrive at Staging Area "A" at 9:45am. To get here, please enter the cemetery through the first gate off of Sheridan Blvd. marked "Funeral Entrance" and take your first right following the signage for Staging Area "A".