Don Lee Klinginsmith

Don Klinginsmith

Don Klinginsmith, 85, died peacefully at his home in Unionville, MO, surrounded by his loving family, on Thursday, August 20, 2009.
Don Lee Klinginsmith was born September 3, 1923 in rural Lucerne, MO, the son of Harley Dunn and Jessie Emma (Thompson) Klinginsmith who preceded him in death. He attended the Gravel Ridge school and then went to work at the arsenal plant in Burlington, IA, during World War II. He returned to Putnam County and then married Frances J. McCoy in Kansas on October 28, 1944. She preceded him in death on October 20, 2001.
Don owned and operated his own trucking business from the time he was sixteen years of age. He also had a mechanic shop where he worked on farm tractors and large trucks. He passed that work along to his family and began working on small engines. Don never “retired.”
Don was an avid hunter and fisherman. He enjoyed hunting trips to Idaho and Colorado and especially liked to hunt for elk and deer. He also enjoyed hosting hunters on his farm east of Unionville. He was an all around outdoorsman who liked to ride motorcycles and hot rods. Don was a wonderful and patient teacher to younger men who looked upon him as a mentor. He was a 4-H leader, Little League and Pony League coach and served on the County Republican Committee. He was a man of determined spirit and a hard worker all his life.
Don is survived by two sons, Donnie Klinginsmith, Jr. and his wife Linda and Karl Klinginsmith and his wife Shelly, all of Unionville, MO; and two daughters, Claudia Bears and her husband Tony of Unionville, MO and Marcia Erdelyi and her husband Rick of Shreveport, LA. Ten grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren also survive as well as a sister, Fern Valentine of Powersville, MO.
In addition to his wife, Don was preceded in death by three brothers, Kenneth, Mart, and Elmo Klinginsmith and by four sisters, Reva Rowan, Helen Brown, Mary Pickering, and Ariah Marie Klinginsmith, who died in infancy.
Funeral services for Don Klinginsmith will be at Playle and Jones Family Funeral Home at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, August 23, 2009 with visitation on Saturday evening from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Interment will be in the Unionville Cemetery.
Memorials are suggested to Hospice of Northeast Missouri and may be entrusted with Playle and Jones Family Funeral Home, 709 S. 27th, Unionville, MO, 63565.