Glenn F Kloiber

Glenn Kloiber and Patricia Flynn were both graduates of Marquette University (with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Journalism, respectively). Glenn was back in Milwaukee, on break from an engineering job in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and joined a few friends at a 1955 Marquette Catholic Alumni Club picnic. He spotted Patricia’s tennis racquet, conveniently protected by a cover bearing her name. When Glenn greeted her by name, Patricia wondered whether this tall, handsome man was someone she should know. Introductions followed, and Patricia returned home to look up Glenn in the Milwaukee phone directory (verifying that she could, indeed, spell his unusual last name!). One cashmere sweater, two Kloiber Jewelers diamond rings (an engagement/wedding set), and sixty-three years of marriage later, Glenn and Patricia still enjoyed helping people with spelling and pronouncing “Kloiber.”

Glenn was the oldest of the four Kloiber children, and grew up with his siblings in the streets and schools of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a child, he reveled in Saturday movies and newsreels with his next-in-age brother, endured violin lessons, teased his little sister, played and watched countless baseball games with his father, crammed into a too-small bedroom shared with both brothers, collected baseball cards, biked through an afternoon newspaper route, played Sheepshead and other card games on Sundays with his German-speaking grandfather, and discovered his aptitude for math and science. When he was seven, Glenn fell in love with the Wisconsin Northwoods after his father purchased 22 acres on a quiet lake in Minocqua. This piney oasis became the cherished home for generations of families to gather and create memories.

Despite the 16-hour round trip, the property on Franklin Lake – complete with a ramshackle cabin lovingly dubbed the “Shack” -- frequently beckoned to Glenn and his family. Many weekends, they would load up the car, hitch a trailer of supplies, and drive up for fishing, hiking, and countless construction and remodel projects. As Glenn grew older, he would drive to the Shack with friends in vehicles that were in marginal condition and subject to tire and gas rationing – often swapping out tires to “put on the car we thought would work the best.”

Glenn’s forays to Northern Wisconsin took a hiatus when he served in the Army Air Corps from May 1943 to March 1946. Glenn often joked that the Army designated him a “Range Setter” (“in charge of putting the gun on the target”) when his eyesight was too weak to qualify for the ROTC. The 791st Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Automatic Weapons Battalion (Semi-Mobile), Battery B, extensively trained stateside on the 40mm Bofors gun. Training continued when the Battalion moved to England, including practice with a state-of-the-art on-carriage fire control device.

On August 18, 1944, the 791st convoyed to Omaha Beach, and Glenn recalled seeing the artificial harbor littered with sunken remnants of the invasion fleet. Fortunately, the German forces were retreating and there were few enemy planes to shoot by the time that the 791st arrived. Instead, Glenn supervised 1,500 non-officer German soldiers in a prison camp near Rennes, France, thanks to his familiarity with the German language (this was Glenn’s favorite assignment). He also coordinated post-war engineering projects in France and handled administrative duties processing soldiers from France back to the U.S. He shared stories of adventures during leave and learned that people are friendly all over the world – a lesson that he reflected in his friendliness to all, young or old, stranger or friend.

Glenn was awarded three Overseas Service Bars, the American Campaign Medal, European African Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with One Bronze Battle Star, Good Conduct Medal, and the World War II Victory Medal. Decades later, Glenn received the French Legion of Honor Medal for his wartime service during the months of the Normandy Invasion, as well as the Florida Governor’s Veterans Service Award.

Glenn returned to resume his college career on the G.I. Bill, working hard to compete with many other returning soldiers. After graduation, he held engineering positions with several companies developing boilers and pumps and, after a few years, met Patricia during that memorable picnic. Following a two-year long-distance courtship, they were engaged on Christmas Eve, 1956, and married at Christ King Catholic Church (Wauwatosa, Wisconsin) on August 10, 1957. They followed their wedding and brunch reception with a honeymoon tour of western national parks, then a visit to the beloved Shack. Ten months later, the first of the six Kloiber children (Kathleen) arrived.

In 1959, Glenn accepted an engineering job with Rocketdyne in Neosho, Missouri, where he would apply his experience with boilers, pumps, and propellants to building rocket engine turbopumps. The small Kloiber family moved from Milwaukee and welcomed children Dan and Beth. As the aerospace industry

grew to meet the challenges of the space race, Glenn transferred to the Rocketdyne headquarters in Canoga Park, California. The family similarly grew, adding children Margaret Ann (Megan), Laurie, and Tom. (Glenn had professed a desire for a dozen children, but always seemed content with six!)

Glenn continued his work on the F-1 engine – the engine that powered the Saturn V rockets and all of the Apollo missions. He also refined the fuel injectors on the Lunar Module Ascent Engine, ensuring that the astronauts could safely leave the surface of the moon, with their samples and moon rocks intact. All engineering calculations were carefully performed on a slide rule.

Glenn then spent a year at Hughes Aircraft, in Malibu, California. He worked primarily with a “think tank,” developing a mass and gravity detection device to fly on an airplane, measuring minute gravity differences. He also spent some time on early lasers.

In 1971, Glenn took an engineering position with Pratt & Whitney Aircraft in West Palm Beach, Florida, moving the family to Tequesta. There, he focused on engines for fighter jets and lasers, as well as passing the exams to obtain his Florida Professional Engineer license -- the highest standard of competence for the engineering profession. Eventually, he returned to aerospace engineering when Pratt & Whitney was hired to improve turbopump reliability for the main engine on the Space Shuttle. Glenn retired in 1988 and dedicated more time to financial investing/advising, exercising and taking daily walks, traveling with Patricia (to the Holy Land, Alaska, the Panama Canal, Lourdes and Fatima, the homes of their children, and other special sites), and volunteering in his communities of Jupiter/Tequesta and later, Plant City, Florida.

In an era when traditional parental roles were the norm and fathers were often remote figures, Glenn and Pat were true partners, fully engaged and supporting each other in raising the rambunctious household of (mostly) extroverts. Both loved their family and consistently modeled their Catholic faith, with Glenn starting and finishing each day with prayers at his bedside. Both were active in the local Catholic parishes: Glenn taught catechism for many years, inspired his children as a lector at Mass and Eucharistic Minister, and served with the Knights of Columbus (including as Grand Knight of Council 6569). Catholic education was paramount, family road trips always started with a rosary, and first sacraments were thoroughly celebrated. The family even adopted local traditions into their holidays, such as wandering the halls in the house with statues of Mary and Joseph, in search of a place to rest during the Christmas Eve “Las Posadas.”

Glenn had a nickname for each child (which, out of respect for the living, will not be revealed), and always had a song or game at the ready. No descendant of Glenn Kloiber would lack for eensy weensy spiders or “open/shut ‘ems.” And many hours were spent happily marching around the house with little people joyfully holding onto his fingers and trotting behind while Glenn hummed a little marching tune.

For the grandchildren, the best of these playtimes occurred while Glenn was in residence at the Shack, during the summer months after retirement. There, he relaxed with breakfast bowls of oatmeal, hours of polka music (Glenn called it "happy music"), long walks in and around the woods, the Wall Street Journal, and CNBC on the television. When families visited, plenty of time was allotted to putting worms on fishing hooks, gently removing petite fish from the hooks (and releasing them back into the water), and savoring other Franklin Lake adventures. In the evenings, Glenn relished watching baseball with his family, especially if the Milwaukee Brewers (and later, the Tampa Bay Rays) were winning.

Glenn will be remembered for his friendliness to all, his passion for polka music, his careful stewardship of all things financial, his deep love for every child, his respect for the wonders of nature, his generosity to charities, his devotion to his beloved wife, his ability to keep nearly any vehicle running, and his deep spirituality. He would frequently remind his family members to “Be very, verrrry careful” and caution that we must keep our eyes on the younger ones (“You gotta watch them like a hawk”). During annual vacation road trips -- with the entire family jammed into the station wagon – he was often heard saying, “I just drive the bus.”

Salads were meant to be smothered in onions, water was served with a single ice cube, and ice cream was screamed for (at least, that was how the expression went!). Dogs were beloved -- Glenn even wrote postcards from France to his family’s cocker spaniel, Duke -- and automotive fluids were to be frequently checked and enquired about. The children learned to follow the stock market, to look for good deals, to save for the future, to work hard in school, and to do something in life that was enjoyed, while making “enough to take care of yourself.” “I had 14 different jobs and I enjoyed all of my jobs – from peddling papers, to working in a shop, to selling stocks and mutual funds, to designing and developing things.” Each of the Kloiber children remembers the wisdom that Glenn individually shared, especially when times were difficult. His gentle guidance was always sound and based in experience, kindness, and faith. Glenn viewed life in terms of eternity. "You don't need much to enjoy life; there is so much to live for".

Much of Glenn’s guidance of recent years was intended for the next generations. He reminded us to teach our children to:

- Obey your parents and respect your elders; always tell the truth; attend church regularly.

- Keep smiling and be friendly with all; love your neighbor as yourself.

- Say your prayers and keep praying for a better world.

- “. . . And love your children!”

The famous Tennis Racket of Love remains in the family, though Glenn admitted, “We never played tennis, ever.” Instead, he served up a full life of devotion, humor, humility, compassion, companionship, caring, hard work, gratitude, grace, and joy. “You pray for me, and I’ll pray for you” he would say to Patricia’s mother, Mina, when leaving her home. His closing words were most often, “God Bless You.”

May God continue to bless Glenn, Patricia, and all of the family that their love produced.

Glenn is survived by his wife, Patricia Flynn Kloiber, sister Carol Kuszewski (Joe), children: Kathleen Kloiber Koch (Jonathan), Daniel (Brooke Braswell), Elizabeth Abely (Gary), Megan Martin (Bill), Laurie Dever (Ray), and Thomas (Mary Beth). His 18 grandchildren include Aaron (Jennifer Koester) and Gillian Koch; David (Marci), Nicholas (Caragh), Casey (Diana), Michael, Lincoln, and Atlas Kloiber; Patricia and Kathryn Abely; Sean and Patrick Martin; Alexis, Emily, and Catherine Dever; and Ryan, TJ, and Will Kloiber. Glenn’s five great-grandchildren are Xander and Lexi Kloiber, Rowan and Fenton Kloiber, and Ruari Kloiber. He is predeceased by his parents, Frank O. and Lora (Dahmer) Kloiber, brother Clyde, and brother Ken (Virginia).

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Paul Catholic Church, Tampa, on Friday, January 8, at 2:30 p.m. Interment at St. Patrick Cemetery in Woodruff, Wisconsin, will follow in 2021 – after the ground thaws and travel is safe again. Arrangements are under the care of Blount & Curry Funeral Home, Carrollwood.

Anyone wishing to make a donation in Glenn’s honor might contribute to their local St. Vincent DePaul Society or to another charity meaningful to the donor.