FROM THE FUNERAL PROGRAM:
In Loving Memory of Abe N. Claassen
Abram Nicholas Claassen
Born: May 25, 1928 El Trebel, Durango, Mexico
Died: December 12, 2014 Wichita, KS
Funeral Services
First Church of the Nazarene
Wednesday, December 17, 2014 Ten-Thirty
Officiant Pastor Brad Riley
Life Story Daryl Claassen
Interment Maize Park Cemetery Maize, Kansas
Casket Bearers
Brandon Claassen Christopher Claassen
Daryl Claassen Preston Mossman
Kevin Wiens Roger Penner
Honorary Casket Bearers
John Strickland Gene Burrell Lewis Hagen
Pianist Sondra Claassen
Vocalists Vern Smith Leah Rankin
Music Selections
"The Old Rugged Cross"
"Through it All"
"The Wonder of It All"
A memorial has been established with:
Abe N. Claassen Memorial Fund
C/O First Church of the Nazarene
1400 E. Kellogg
Wichita, KS 67211
READ AT THE FUNERAL BY DARYL CLAASSEN:
Good morning everyone. In May of 2013, my grandfather, Abe Claassen, had a stroke. The day of the stroke Abe was doing what he normally did. He was working hard. It was a hot day in May and my grandpa Abe was digging holes, planting trees and shrubs, and doing other yard work.. At the end of the day, he came inside and had supper with Mary. After the meal, he was carrying his dishes to the kitchen when he fell down with a stroke. This began a sequence of events that led to his passing last Friday morning.
After spending three months in rehab Abe was able to return home. Once there, he tried to resume his normal home life. He had not yet accepted the physical and mental limitations that were now a part of his life. He had trouble staying on his feet, even with a walker close by. Grandpa hated needing the walker. At one point my uncle Stan found him walking up the stairs dragging his walker. Abe wasn’t supposed to go down to the basement but he was a determined kind of guy and went where he needed to. His usual sense of balance never returned and he couldn’t accept that he wouldn’t fully recover. He had enjoyed an incredibly active and healthy life.
I’d Like to Share A Little Bit About My Grandfather. His parents, Abraham and Anna, were from a German Mennonite village in South Russia. They were successful farmers there until the Russian revolution. Abe’s parent’s farm was eventually taken over. His mother and father were forced to cook and serve the occupying army until their stocks were consumed. My father Steve remembers his grandmother Anna describing how hard it was for her to see starving children begging for something to eat during those times. Abraham and Anna decided to leave Russia in 1925. They left with three other families traveling only with what they could carry. They emigrated with their infant daughter Olga to El Trebel of the Durango Province in Mexico. Three years later, on May 28, 1928, Abe Claassen was born. A year after that the family again emigrated. Their destination this time was the German Mennonite community of Hillsboro, Kansas. In 1932 Abe’s youngest sister Mary was born.
The family owned a small farm which they worked on together. In addition to the farm Abe’s father Abraham worked as a residential carpenter. Abe started working with his dad on the farm and on construction jobs from a very early age. As Abe grew up, he enjoyed and did well playing football and basketball at Hillsboro High School. His interest in sports probably kept him in school for a few extra years until he began working construction full time.
In his adult life, Abe married my Grandmother Claassen. They were married in Hillsboro and welcomed their first born son, my father Steve, in 1953. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Wichita Kansas where work opportunities for Abe were closer. Stan was born a year later and six years after that Rodney was born.
Grandpa Abe’s talent for construction was recognized by others early on. He quickly found work on major commercial construction projects in the Central Kansas region. Eventually, he became a general superintendent. He held this position on many commercial projects in and around Wichita. These include Titan missile bases, several buildings at Wesley Hospital, the initial buildings at the Sedgwick County Zoo, and other commercial projects.
Abe was a good provider for his family and a hard worker all of his life. He found satisfaction in doing a good job. He modeled a very strong work ethic to the benefit of each of his sons. He loved working with them and when they were old enough having them work on some of his projects. Over the years, he helped construct several homes for his sons and was involved in many of their home projects, repairs and remodels.
Grandpa was a meticulous craftsmen on any project he undertook. In semiretirement, he continued to work in construction as a carpenter well into his 70’s. Companies kept calling him back to work and it was in that work that he found satisfaction.
Abe’s employers respected and rewarded his professional efforts and he had a successful career. In a conversation with a former employer of both Abe and Stan, Stan was told that, in tough times he could always bid a job at cost or below and know Abe would deliver the job with a good profit. This was twenty years after Abe had worked for him.
Grandpa was a frugal man. He often saw value in materials headed for the junk yard. On almost any home project for himself or family, he would always have just the right piece of salvaged leftover material from previous projects. He rarely had to make a trip to the lumber store and always had that perfect tool or supply needed for the job.
My father Steve and his brothers Stan and Rodney all worked on grandpa’s projects from their high school years into college. Each of them, despite Abe’s advice, ended up with successful construction careers of their own. They all agree the foundation of their work ethic is what they learned from watching and working with their Dad.
Grandpa’s last project was a year ago. He helped finish my brother Brandon’s basement. His condition prevented him from doing his usual amount of work, but his presence there will always be remembered and appreciated. He had his 4 year old great-granddaughter dancing around him while he watched and worked with his son and grandson with occasional appearances of great grandsons Brady and Elias. When lunch time would come, he would always apologize for not earning his meal – if he only knew how much his presence was treasured by everyone.
His sons remember many great camping vacations with their parents. These included trips to national parks from Arizona to Oregon, many places in between, and nearly annual trips to the Colorado mountains. Abe and his sons bought a ski boat together. Most summer weekends and a few weeknights were spent camping, waterskiing and boating. Abe could not swim to save his life. They never forgot how fearful he was of the water, but amazingly he learned and eventually liked to waterski. Whenever he skied, he never just jumped in the water. There was a procedure. He would slowly go down the ladder, putting his toes in first, then his legs, and then the rest. He would gasp for air for a few seconds until he was fully floating due to his life-vest. Eventually he would smile, demand the rope, and then take off for a few laps around the lake. When finished, he wanted the boat to pick him back up ASAP.
Grandpa also learned to snow ski with his boys on some of their trips to Colorado to visit his sister Olga and the Penner family. On their first attempt at snow skiing, Stan, Grandpa and my Dad Steve were all on successive lift chairs. While getting off they each crashed one after and on top of the other. After getting up, and a good amount of practice, they all became avid skiers, Abe not quite so avid. He had a family to support.
Grandpa and his family also very much enjoyed their frequents visits to his sister Mary’s family farm in Meade, Kansas. Grandpa Abe made no secret of a preference for a career in farming but his opportunities were elsewhere.
Abe married Mary Hamilton in 1983 and they have shared a satisfying and loving life together over the last 31 years. They enjoyed RVing across the country from Texas to Virginia to Canada and many of the regional lakes. They often met up with their kids for weekend outings.
Grandpa always enjoyed and had great success at gardening. His gardens provided most of the families vegetables for a time. More recently he focused on tomato and cucumber production. He and Mary looked forward to each summer. Each tomato was treated with tremendous care and attention; brought in just before becoming bird bait, stamped with a date that indicated just when the perfect day for use would occur, and then given away to fortunate friends or family.
Abe was an avid Shocker and Chiefs fan attending various Shocker games over the past 50 years. Even last year, Grandpa continued to watch, enjoy and talk about Chiefs or Shocker games.
Abe was a lifetime member and supporter of his church and Sunday school. He and Mary had the privilege of assisting with the preparation of Holy Communion weekly and participated in many church activities with close church friends. He used his carpentry skills and donated time on various church projects. He felt privileged to travel with a church group to Haiti several years ago to help build a project for a poor community.
We all had the opportunity to hear Grandpa pray at our many holiday meals together. We saw and heard his humble and sincere prayers as he asked for a blessing of the food, a blessing for those at the table, and a blessing for those who were absent. In his later years he found it difficult to complete those prayers as his emotions would overtake him. At this point all around the table would understand and give the requisite AMEN!
We are thankful to Abe’s wife Mary for supporting her husband under very difficult circumstances following his stroke. She was steadfast in her love and care for him through all their marriage and especially after he fell ill. She took care of him for as long as she could at home.
June 2014, Abe moved to the Memory Care Unit at the Oxford Grand facility. Mary continued to spend nearly all of her days and some nights at Abe’s side. We often had to encourage her to come home and take care of herself. Although Grandpa never really wanted to be at Oxford, the staff took excellent care of him. We are extremely thankful to them for their support of Grandpa and our family - especially to caregivers Stephanie, Miranda, Vicki and Cindy.
The hardest thing for grandpa to get used to was not working. A creative staff member at Oxford gave him a job that provided him some feelings of value that he desperately needed. She located a hard hat that she labeled superintendent, took up a pencil and pad and asked dad to go around the facility with her to identify punch list items that might be attended to. This helped to alleviate some of his anxiousness.
Recent weekly visits from his granddaughter in-law Jaleen and the great grandkids particularly made him smile. Can you imagine Papa Abe playing beach ball with his great granddaughter, Juliet? She captured Papa’s heart as well as the other residence whose days were brightened by these littles smiles and wiggles!
Grandpa will be missed greatly. He is and forever will be loved by his family and friends. May his memory be eternal.
In Loving Memory of Abe N. Claassen
Abram Nicholas Claassen
Born: May 25, 1928 El Trebel, Durango, Mexico
Died: December 12, 2014 Wichita, KS
Funeral Services
First Church of the Nazarene
Wednesday, December 17, 2014 Ten-Thirty
Officiant Pastor Brad Riley
Life Story Daryl Claassen
Interment Maize Park Cemetery Maize, Kansas
Casket Bearers
Brandon Claassen Christopher Claassen
Daryl Claassen Preston Mossman
Kevin Wiens Roger Penner
Honorary Casket Bearers
John Strickland Gene Burrell Lewis Hagen
Pianist Sondra Claassen
Vocalists Vern Smith Leah Rankin
Music Selections
"The Old Rugged Cross"
"Through it All"
"The Wonder of It All"
A memorial has been established with:
Abe N. Claassen Memorial Fund
C/O First Church of the Nazarene
1400 E. Kellogg
Wichita, KS 67211
READ AT THE FUNERAL BY DARYL CLAASSEN:
Good morning everyone. In May of 2013, my grandfather, Abe Claassen, had a stroke. The day of the stroke Abe was doing what he normally did. He was working hard. It was a hot day in May and my grandpa Abe was digging holes, planting trees and shrubs, and doing other yard work.. At the end of the day, he came inside and had supper with Mary. After the meal, he was carrying his dishes to the kitchen when he fell down with a stroke. This began a sequence of events that led to his passing last Friday morning.
After spending three months in rehab Abe was able to return home. Once there, he tried to resume his normal home life. He had not yet accepted the physical and mental limitations that were now a part of his life. He had trouble staying on his feet, even with a walker close by. Grandpa hated needing the walker. At one point my uncle Stan found him walking up the stairs dragging his walker. Abe wasn’t supposed to go down to the basement but he was a determined kind of guy and went where he needed to. His usual sense of balance never returned and he couldn’t accept that he wouldn’t fully recover. He had enjoyed an incredibly active and healthy life.
I’d Like to Share A Little Bit About My Grandfather. His parents, Abraham and Anna, were from a German Mennonite village in South Russia. They were successful farmers there until the Russian revolution. Abe’s parent’s farm was eventually taken over. His mother and father were forced to cook and serve the occupying army until their stocks were consumed. My father Steve remembers his grandmother Anna describing how hard it was for her to see starving children begging for something to eat during those times. Abraham and Anna decided to leave Russia in 1925. They left with three other families traveling only with what they could carry. They emigrated with their infant daughter Olga to El Trebel of the Durango Province in Mexico. Three years later, on May 28, 1928, Abe Claassen was born. A year after that the family again emigrated. Their destination this time was the German Mennonite community of Hillsboro, Kansas. In 1932 Abe’s youngest sister Mary was born.
The family owned a small farm which they worked on together. In addition to the farm Abe’s father Abraham worked as a residential carpenter. Abe started working with his dad on the farm and on construction jobs from a very early age. As Abe grew up, he enjoyed and did well playing football and basketball at Hillsboro High School. His interest in sports probably kept him in school for a few extra years until he began working construction full time.
In his adult life, Abe married my Grandmother Claassen. They were married in Hillsboro and welcomed their first born son, my father Steve, in 1953. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Wichita Kansas where work opportunities for Abe were closer. Stan was born a year later and six years after that Rodney was born.
Grandpa Abe’s talent for construction was recognized by others early on. He quickly found work on major commercial construction projects in the Central Kansas region. Eventually, he became a general superintendent. He held this position on many commercial projects in and around Wichita. These include Titan missile bases, several buildings at Wesley Hospital, the initial buildings at the Sedgwick County Zoo, and other commercial projects.
Abe was a good provider for his family and a hard worker all of his life. He found satisfaction in doing a good job. He modeled a very strong work ethic to the benefit of each of his sons. He loved working with them and when they were old enough having them work on some of his projects. Over the years, he helped construct several homes for his sons and was involved in many of their home projects, repairs and remodels.
Grandpa was a meticulous craftsmen on any project he undertook. In semiretirement, he continued to work in construction as a carpenter well into his 70’s. Companies kept calling him back to work and it was in that work that he found satisfaction.
Abe’s employers respected and rewarded his professional efforts and he had a successful career. In a conversation with a former employer of both Abe and Stan, Stan was told that, in tough times he could always bid a job at cost or below and know Abe would deliver the job with a good profit. This was twenty years after Abe had worked for him.
Grandpa was a frugal man. He often saw value in materials headed for the junk yard. On almost any home project for himself or family, he would always have just the right piece of salvaged leftover material from previous projects. He rarely had to make a trip to the lumber store and always had that perfect tool or supply needed for the job.
My father Steve and his brothers Stan and Rodney all worked on grandpa’s projects from their high school years into college. Each of them, despite Abe’s advice, ended up with successful construction careers of their own. They all agree the foundation of their work ethic is what they learned from watching and working with their Dad.
Grandpa’s last project was a year ago. He helped finish my brother Brandon’s basement. His condition prevented him from doing his usual amount of work, but his presence there will always be remembered and appreciated. He had his 4 year old great-granddaughter dancing around him while he watched and worked with his son and grandson with occasional appearances of great grandsons Brady and Elias. When lunch time would come, he would always apologize for not earning his meal – if he only knew how much his presence was treasured by everyone.
His sons remember many great camping vacations with their parents. These included trips to national parks from Arizona to Oregon, many places in between, and nearly annual trips to the Colorado mountains. Abe and his sons bought a ski boat together. Most summer weekends and a few weeknights were spent camping, waterskiing and boating. Abe could not swim to save his life. They never forgot how fearful he was of the water, but amazingly he learned and eventually liked to waterski. Whenever he skied, he never just jumped in the water. There was a procedure. He would slowly go down the ladder, putting his toes in first, then his legs, and then the rest. He would gasp for air for a few seconds until he was fully floating due to his life-vest. Eventually he would smile, demand the rope, and then take off for a few laps around the lake. When finished, he wanted the boat to pick him back up ASAP.
Grandpa also learned to snow ski with his boys on some of their trips to Colorado to visit his sister Olga and the Penner family. On their first attempt at snow skiing, Stan, Grandpa and my Dad Steve were all on successive lift chairs. While getting off they each crashed one after and on top of the other. After getting up, and a good amount of practice, they all became avid skiers, Abe not quite so avid. He had a family to support.
Grandpa and his family also very much enjoyed their frequents visits to his sister Mary’s family farm in Meade, Kansas. Grandpa Abe made no secret of a preference for a career in farming but his opportunities were elsewhere.
Abe married Mary Hamilton in 1983 and they have shared a satisfying and loving life together over the last 31 years. They enjoyed RVing across the country from Texas to Virginia to Canada and many of the regional lakes. They often met up with their kids for weekend outings.
Grandpa always enjoyed and had great success at gardening. His gardens provided most of the families vegetables for a time. More recently he focused on tomato and cucumber production. He and Mary looked forward to each summer. Each tomato was treated with tremendous care and attention; brought in just before becoming bird bait, stamped with a date that indicated just when the perfect day for use would occur, and then given away to fortunate friends or family.
Abe was an avid Shocker and Chiefs fan attending various Shocker games over the past 50 years. Even last year, Grandpa continued to watch, enjoy and talk about Chiefs or Shocker games.
Abe was a lifetime member and supporter of his church and Sunday school. He and Mary had the privilege of assisting with the preparation of Holy Communion weekly and participated in many church activities with close church friends. He used his carpentry skills and donated time on various church projects. He felt privileged to travel with a church group to Haiti several years ago to help build a project for a poor community.
We all had the opportunity to hear Grandpa pray at our many holiday meals together. We saw and heard his humble and sincere prayers as he asked for a blessing of the food, a blessing for those at the table, and a blessing for those who were absent. In his later years he found it difficult to complete those prayers as his emotions would overtake him. At this point all around the table would understand and give the requisite AMEN!
We are thankful to Abe’s wife Mary for supporting her husband under very difficult circumstances following his stroke. She was steadfast in her love and care for him through all their marriage and especially after he fell ill. She took care of him for as long as she could at home.
June 2014, Abe moved to the Memory Care Unit at the Oxford Grand facility. Mary continued to spend nearly all of her days and some nights at Abe’s side. We often had to encourage her to come home and take care of herself. Although Grandpa never really wanted to be at Oxford, the staff took excellent care of him. We are extremely thankful to them for their support of Grandpa and our family - especially to caregivers Stephanie, Miranda, Vicki and Cindy.
The hardest thing for grandpa to get used to was not working. A creative staff member at Oxford gave him a job that provided him some feelings of value that he desperately needed. She located a hard hat that she labeled superintendent, took up a pencil and pad and asked dad to go around the facility with her to identify punch list items that might be attended to. This helped to alleviate some of his anxiousness.
Recent weekly visits from his granddaughter in-law Jaleen and the great grandkids particularly made him smile. Can you imagine Papa Abe playing beach ball with his great granddaughter, Juliet? She captured Papa’s heart as well as the other residence whose days were brightened by these littles smiles and wiggles!
Grandpa will be missed greatly. He is and forever will be loved by his family and friends. May his memory be eternal.
FROM THE FUNERAL PROGRAM:
In Loving Memory of Abe N. Claassen
Abram Nicholas Claassen
Born: May 25, 1928 El Trebel, Durango, Mexico
Died: December 12, 2014 Wichita, KS
Funeral Services
First Church of the Nazarene
Wednesday, December 17, 2014 Ten-Thirty
Officiant Pastor Brad Riley
Life Story Daryl Claassen
Interment Maize Park Cemetery Maize, Kansas
Casket Bearers
Brandon Claassen Christopher Claassen
Daryl Claassen Preston Mossman
Kevin Wiens Roger Penner
Honorary Casket Bearers
John Strickland Gene Burrell Lewis Hagen
Pianist Sondra Claassen
Vocalists Vern Smith Leah Rankin
Music Selections
"The Old Rugged Cross"
"Through it All"
"The Wonder of It All"
A memorial has been established with:
Abe N. Claassen Memorial Fund
C/O First Church of the Nazarene
1400 E. Kellogg
Wichita, KS 67211
READ AT THE FUNERAL BY DARYL CLAASSEN:
Good morning everyone. In May of 2013, my grandfather, Abe Claassen, had a stroke. The day of the stroke Abe was doing what he normally did. He was working hard. It was a hot day in May and my grandpa Abe was digging holes, planting trees and shrubs, and doing other yard work.. At the end of the day, he came inside and had supper with Mary. After the meal, he was carrying his dishes to the kitchen when he fell down with a stroke. This began a sequence of events that led to his passing last Friday morning.
After spending three months in rehab Abe was able to return home. Once there, he tried to resume his normal home life. He had not yet accepted the physical and mental limitations that were now a part of his life. He had trouble staying on his feet, even with a walker close by. Grandpa hated needing the walker. At one point my uncle Stan found him walking up the stairs dragging his walker. Abe wasn’t supposed to go down to the basement but he was a determined kind of guy and went where he needed to. His usual sense of balance never returned and he couldn’t accept that he wouldn’t fully recover. He had enjoyed an incredibly active and healthy life.
I’d Like to Share A Little Bit About My Grandfather. His parents, Abraham and Anna, were from a German Mennonite village in South Russia. They were successful farmers there until the Russian revolution. Abe’s parent’s farm was eventually taken over. His mother and father were forced to cook and serve the occupying army until their stocks were consumed. My father Steve remembers his grandmother Anna describing how hard it was for her to see starving children begging for something to eat during those times. Abraham and Anna decided to leave Russia in 1925. They left with three other families traveling only with what they could carry. They emigrated with their infant daughter Olga to El Trebel of the Durango Province in Mexico. Three years later, on May 28, 1928, Abe Claassen was born. A year after that the family again emigrated. Their destination this time was the German Mennonite community of Hillsboro, Kansas. In 1932 Abe’s youngest sister Mary was born.
The family owned a small farm which they worked on together. In addition to the farm Abe’s father Abraham worked as a residential carpenter. Abe started working with his dad on the farm and on construction jobs from a very early age. As Abe grew up, he enjoyed and did well playing football and basketball at Hillsboro High School. His interest in sports probably kept him in school for a few extra years until he began working construction full time.
In his adult life, Abe married my Grandmother Claassen. They were married in Hillsboro and welcomed their first born son, my father Steve, in 1953. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Wichita Kansas where work opportunities for Abe were closer. Stan was born a year later and six years after that Rodney was born.
Grandpa Abe’s talent for construction was recognized by others early on. He quickly found work on major commercial construction projects in the Central Kansas region. Eventually, he became a general superintendent. He held this position on many commercial projects in and around Wichita. These include Titan missile bases, several buildings at Wesley Hospital, the initial buildings at the Sedgwick County Zoo, and other commercial projects.
Abe was a good provider for his family and a hard worker all of his life. He found satisfaction in doing a good job. He modeled a very strong work ethic to the benefit of each of his sons. He loved working with them and when they were old enough having them work on some of his projects. Over the years, he helped construct several homes for his sons and was involved in many of their home projects, repairs and remodels.
Grandpa was a meticulous craftsmen on any project he undertook. In semiretirement, he continued to work in construction as a carpenter well into his 70’s. Companies kept calling him back to work and it was in that work that he found satisfaction.
Abe’s employers respected and rewarded his professional efforts and he had a successful career. In a conversation with a former employer of both Abe and Stan, Stan was told that, in tough times he could always bid a job at cost or below and know Abe would deliver the job with a good profit. This was twenty years after Abe had worked for him.
Grandpa was a frugal man. He often saw value in materials headed for the junk yard. On almost any home project for himself or family, he would always have just the right piece of salvaged leftover material from previous projects. He rarely had to make a trip to the lumber store and always had that perfect tool or supply needed for the job.
My father Steve and his brothers Stan and Rodney all worked on grandpa’s projects from their high school years into college. Each of them, despite Abe’s advice, ended up with successful construction careers of their own. They all agree the foundation of their work ethic is what they learned from watching and working with their Dad.
Grandpa’s last project was a year ago. He helped finish my brother Brandon’s basement. His condition prevented him from doing his usual amount of work, but his presence there will always be remembered and appreciated. He had his 4 year old great-granddaughter dancing around him while he watched and worked with his son and grandson with occasional appearances of great grandsons Brady and Elias. When lunch time would come, he would always apologize for not earning his meal – if he only knew how much his presence was treasured by everyone.
His sons remember many great camping vacations with their parents. These included trips to national parks from Arizona to Oregon, many places in between, and nearly annual trips to the Colorado mountains. Abe and his sons bought a ski boat together. Most summer weekends and a few weeknights were spent camping, waterskiing and boating. Abe could not swim to save his life. They never forgot how fearful he was of the water, but amazingly he learned and eventually liked to waterski. Whenever he skied, he never just jumped in the water. There was a procedure. He would slowly go down the ladder, putting his toes in first, then his legs, and then the rest. He would gasp for air for a few seconds until he was fully floating due to his life-vest. Eventually he would smile, demand the rope, and then take off for a few laps around the lake. When finished, he wanted the boat to pick him back up ASAP.
Grandpa also learned to snow ski with his boys on some of their trips to Colorado to visit his sister Olga and the Penner family. On their first attempt at snow skiing, Stan, Grandpa and my Dad Steve were all on successive lift chairs. While getting off they each crashed one after and on top of the other. After getting up, and a good amount of practice, they all became avid skiers, Abe not quite so avid. He had a family to support.
Grandpa and his family also very much enjoyed their frequents visits to his sister Mary’s family farm in Meade, Kansas. Grandpa Abe made no secret of a preference for a career in farming but his opportunities were elsewhere.
Abe married Mary Hamilton in 1983 and they have shared a satisfying and loving life together over the last 31 years. They enjoyed RVing across the country from Texas to Virginia to Canada and many of the regional lakes. They often met up with their kids for weekend outings.
Grandpa always enjoyed and had great success at gardening. His gardens provided most of the families vegetables for a time. More recently he focused on tomato and cucumber production. He and Mary looked forward to each summer. Each tomato was treated with tremendous care and attention; brought in just before becoming bird bait, stamped with a date that indicated just when the perfect day for use would occur, and then given away to fortunate friends or family.
Abe was an avid Shocker and Chiefs fan attending various Shocker games over the past 50 years. Even last year, Grandpa continued to watch, enjoy and talk about Chiefs or Shocker games.
Abe was a lifetime member and supporter of his church and Sunday school. He and Mary had the privilege of assisting with the preparation of Holy Communion weekly and participated in many church activities with close church friends. He used his carpentry skills and donated time on various church projects. He felt privileged to travel with a church group to Haiti several years ago to help build a project for a poor community.
We all had the opportunity to hear Grandpa pray at our many holiday meals together. We saw and heard his humble and sincere prayers as he asked for a blessing of the food, a blessing for those at the table, and a blessing for those who were absent. In his later years he found it difficult to complete those prayers as his emotions would overtake him. At this point all around the table would understand and give the requisite AMEN!
We are thankful to Abe’s wife Mary for supporting her husband under very difficult circumstances following his stroke. She was steadfast in her love and care for him through all their marriage and especially after he fell ill. She took care of him for as long as she could at home.
June 2014, Abe moved to the Memory Care Unit at the Oxford Grand facility. Mary continued to spend nearly all of her days and some nights at Abe’s side. We often had to encourage her to come home and take care of herself. Although Grandpa never really wanted to be at Oxford, the staff took excellent care of him. We are extremely thankful to them for their support of Grandpa and our family - especially to caregivers Stephanie, Miranda, Vicki and Cindy.
The hardest thing for grandpa to get used to was not working. A creative staff member at Oxford gave him a job that provided him some feelings of value that he desperately needed. She located a hard hat that she labeled superintendent, took up a pencil and pad and asked dad to go around the facility with her to identify punch list items that might be attended to. This helped to alleviate some of his anxiousness.
Recent weekly visits from his granddaughter in-law Jaleen and the great grandkids particularly made him smile. Can you imagine Papa Abe playing beach ball with his great granddaughter, Juliet? She captured Papa’s heart as well as the other residence whose days were brightened by these littles smiles and wiggles!
Grandpa will be missed greatly. He is and forever will be loved by his family and friends. May his memory be eternal.
In Loving Memory of Abe N. Claassen
Abram Nicholas Claassen
Born: May 25, 1928 El Trebel, Durango, Mexico
Died: December 12, 2014 Wichita, KS
Funeral Services
First Church of the Nazarene
Wednesday, December 17, 2014 Ten-Thirty
Officiant Pastor Brad Riley
Life Story Daryl Claassen
Interment Maize Park Cemetery Maize, Kansas
Casket Bearers
Brandon Claassen Christopher Claassen
Daryl Claassen Preston Mossman
Kevin Wiens Roger Penner
Honorary Casket Bearers
John Strickland Gene Burrell Lewis Hagen
Pianist Sondra Claassen
Vocalists Vern Smith Leah Rankin
Music Selections
"The Old Rugged Cross"
"Through it All"
"The Wonder of It All"
A memorial has been established with:
Abe N. Claassen Memorial Fund
C/O First Church of the Nazarene
1400 E. Kellogg
Wichita, KS 67211
READ AT THE FUNERAL BY DARYL CLAASSEN:
Good morning everyone. In May of 2013, my grandfather, Abe Claassen, had a stroke. The day of the stroke Abe was doing what he normally did. He was working hard. It was a hot day in May and my grandpa Abe was digging holes, planting trees and shrubs, and doing other yard work.. At the end of the day, he came inside and had supper with Mary. After the meal, he was carrying his dishes to the kitchen when he fell down with a stroke. This began a sequence of events that led to his passing last Friday morning.
After spending three months in rehab Abe was able to return home. Once there, he tried to resume his normal home life. He had not yet accepted the physical and mental limitations that were now a part of his life. He had trouble staying on his feet, even with a walker close by. Grandpa hated needing the walker. At one point my uncle Stan found him walking up the stairs dragging his walker. Abe wasn’t supposed to go down to the basement but he was a determined kind of guy and went where he needed to. His usual sense of balance never returned and he couldn’t accept that he wouldn’t fully recover. He had enjoyed an incredibly active and healthy life.
I’d Like to Share A Little Bit About My Grandfather. His parents, Abraham and Anna, were from a German Mennonite village in South Russia. They were successful farmers there until the Russian revolution. Abe’s parent’s farm was eventually taken over. His mother and father were forced to cook and serve the occupying army until their stocks were consumed. My father Steve remembers his grandmother Anna describing how hard it was for her to see starving children begging for something to eat during those times. Abraham and Anna decided to leave Russia in 1925. They left with three other families traveling only with what they could carry. They emigrated with their infant daughter Olga to El Trebel of the Durango Province in Mexico. Three years later, on May 28, 1928, Abe Claassen was born. A year after that the family again emigrated. Their destination this time was the German Mennonite community of Hillsboro, Kansas. In 1932 Abe’s youngest sister Mary was born.
The family owned a small farm which they worked on together. In addition to the farm Abe’s father Abraham worked as a residential carpenter. Abe started working with his dad on the farm and on construction jobs from a very early age. As Abe grew up, he enjoyed and did well playing football and basketball at Hillsboro High School. His interest in sports probably kept him in school for a few extra years until he began working construction full time.
In his adult life, Abe married my Grandmother Claassen. They were married in Hillsboro and welcomed their first born son, my father Steve, in 1953. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Wichita Kansas where work opportunities for Abe were closer. Stan was born a year later and six years after that Rodney was born.
Grandpa Abe’s talent for construction was recognized by others early on. He quickly found work on major commercial construction projects in the Central Kansas region. Eventually, he became a general superintendent. He held this position on many commercial projects in and around Wichita. These include Titan missile bases, several buildings at Wesley Hospital, the initial buildings at the Sedgwick County Zoo, and other commercial projects.
Abe was a good provider for his family and a hard worker all of his life. He found satisfaction in doing a good job. He modeled a very strong work ethic to the benefit of each of his sons. He loved working with them and when they were old enough having them work on some of his projects. Over the years, he helped construct several homes for his sons and was involved in many of their home projects, repairs and remodels.
Grandpa was a meticulous craftsmen on any project he undertook. In semiretirement, he continued to work in construction as a carpenter well into his 70’s. Companies kept calling him back to work and it was in that work that he found satisfaction.
Abe’s employers respected and rewarded his professional efforts and he had a successful career. In a conversation with a former employer of both Abe and Stan, Stan was told that, in tough times he could always bid a job at cost or below and know Abe would deliver the job with a good profit. This was twenty years after Abe had worked for him.
Grandpa was a frugal man. He often saw value in materials headed for the junk yard. On almost any home project for himself or family, he would always have just the right piece of salvaged leftover material from previous projects. He rarely had to make a trip to the lumber store and always had that perfect tool or supply needed for the job.
My father Steve and his brothers Stan and Rodney all worked on grandpa’s projects from their high school years into college. Each of them, despite Abe’s advice, ended up with successful construction careers of their own. They all agree the foundation of their work ethic is what they learned from watching and working with their Dad.
Grandpa’s last project was a year ago. He helped finish my brother Brandon’s basement. His condition prevented him from doing his usual amount of work, but his presence there will always be remembered and appreciated. He had his 4 year old great-granddaughter dancing around him while he watched and worked with his son and grandson with occasional appearances of great grandsons Brady and Elias. When lunch time would come, he would always apologize for not earning his meal – if he only knew how much his presence was treasured by everyone.
His sons remember many great camping vacations with their parents. These included trips to national parks from Arizona to Oregon, many places in between, and nearly annual trips to the Colorado mountains. Abe and his sons bought a ski boat together. Most summer weekends and a few weeknights were spent camping, waterskiing and boating. Abe could not swim to save his life. They never forgot how fearful he was of the water, but amazingly he learned and eventually liked to waterski. Whenever he skied, he never just jumped in the water. There was a procedure. He would slowly go down the ladder, putting his toes in first, then his legs, and then the rest. He would gasp for air for a few seconds until he was fully floating due to his life-vest. Eventually he would smile, demand the rope, and then take off for a few laps around the lake. When finished, he wanted the boat to pick him back up ASAP.
Grandpa also learned to snow ski with his boys on some of their trips to Colorado to visit his sister Olga and the Penner family. On their first attempt at snow skiing, Stan, Grandpa and my Dad Steve were all on successive lift chairs. While getting off they each crashed one after and on top of the other. After getting up, and a good amount of practice, they all became avid skiers, Abe not quite so avid. He had a family to support.
Grandpa and his family also very much enjoyed their frequents visits to his sister Mary’s family farm in Meade, Kansas. Grandpa Abe made no secret of a preference for a career in farming but his opportunities were elsewhere.
Abe married Mary Hamilton in 1983 and they have shared a satisfying and loving life together over the last 31 years. They enjoyed RVing across the country from Texas to Virginia to Canada and many of the regional lakes. They often met up with their kids for weekend outings.
Grandpa always enjoyed and had great success at gardening. His gardens provided most of the families vegetables for a time. More recently he focused on tomato and cucumber production. He and Mary looked forward to each summer. Each tomato was treated with tremendous care and attention; brought in just before becoming bird bait, stamped with a date that indicated just when the perfect day for use would occur, and then given away to fortunate friends or family.
Abe was an avid Shocker and Chiefs fan attending various Shocker games over the past 50 years. Even last year, Grandpa continued to watch, enjoy and talk about Chiefs or Shocker games.
Abe was a lifetime member and supporter of his church and Sunday school. He and Mary had the privilege of assisting with the preparation of Holy Communion weekly and participated in many church activities with close church friends. He used his carpentry skills and donated time on various church projects. He felt privileged to travel with a church group to Haiti several years ago to help build a project for a poor community.
We all had the opportunity to hear Grandpa pray at our many holiday meals together. We saw and heard his humble and sincere prayers as he asked for a blessing of the food, a blessing for those at the table, and a blessing for those who were absent. In his later years he found it difficult to complete those prayers as his emotions would overtake him. At this point all around the table would understand and give the requisite AMEN!
We are thankful to Abe’s wife Mary for supporting her husband under very difficult circumstances following his stroke. She was steadfast in her love and care for him through all their marriage and especially after he fell ill. She took care of him for as long as she could at home.
June 2014, Abe moved to the Memory Care Unit at the Oxford Grand facility. Mary continued to spend nearly all of her days and some nights at Abe’s side. We often had to encourage her to come home and take care of herself. Although Grandpa never really wanted to be at Oxford, the staff took excellent care of him. We are extremely thankful to them for their support of Grandpa and our family - especially to caregivers Stephanie, Miranda, Vicki and Cindy.
The hardest thing for grandpa to get used to was not working. A creative staff member at Oxford gave him a job that provided him some feelings of value that he desperately needed. She located a hard hat that she labeled superintendent, took up a pencil and pad and asked dad to go around the facility with her to identify punch list items that might be attended to. This helped to alleviate some of his anxiousness.
Recent weekly visits from his granddaughter in-law Jaleen and the great grandkids particularly made him smile. Can you imagine Papa Abe playing beach ball with his great granddaughter, Juliet? She captured Papa’s heart as well as the other residence whose days were brightened by these littles smiles and wiggles!
Grandpa will be missed greatly. He is and forever will be loved by his family and friends. May his memory be eternal.
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