Glenn William Klinger

Glenn William Klinger was born on April 25, 1946 and died November 7, 2016. Glenn was born in Kelso, WA to Lewis and Clara Klinger (Harris) and grew up on his parent’s farm in Troutdale, OR. He was the youngest of three boys. He joined the US Army in 1965 and spent almost three years in Germany. He attended Mount Hood Community College and graduated in 1974 from Oregon Institute of Technology with a major in Industrial Technology.

Glenn married his wife, Suzanne (Pratt) on June 21, 1974 and they were married for 42 years. They have two daughters, Tori Krueger (Joe) and Karen Gates (Lester). They have one grandson, Brandon.

Glenn enjoyed a lifelong interest in cars. He raced cars in his early 20’s, built them up and loved to drive them. In 1978 he and his wife joined the Historical Automobile Club of Oregon. They went on many, many club tours and made many valuable friendships. He and his wife owned a 1934 Plymouth Sedan, 1937 Dodge Pickup, 1948 Plymouth Convertible and a 1969 MGB. They loved driving them all.

Throughout the years Glenn worked for major auto manufacturers, Toyota, AMC and Jeep, Winnebago and Chrysler Corp. He worked for over 10 years for Budget Rent a Car until 2005 when he retired. Not one to stay idle for very long he bought a dump truck and started his own business. He made many lifelong friends while he carried on the business of trucking rock, gravel, and asphalt all over East County. It was his dream job. He loved the guys he worked with and he loved being his own boss.

Glenn was a talker. He could talk to most anyone and the in the last years he talked to everyone about the trip across the United States in his motor home that he was planning to take with his wife once his wife retired. This trip began on May 26, 2016 with a trip to Twin Lakes, OR with their camping group. From there they went to West Yellowstone where his wife was looking for the one room school house that her mother taught in. They went to Jackson Hole, WY, Cody, WY, Mount Rushmore, and Niagara Falls and eventually made their way to the East Coast in Maine. They managed to go to several museums including the Henry Ford Museum, and most notable to Glenn the Wheels Thru Time Museum in Maggie Valley, NC. Glenn and Suzanne also rode on four steam trains enjoying them all.

Sadly while on the trip Glenn became ill. On August 21st they returned to their home with the help of their son in law, Joe in Gresham where Glenn was taken immediately to the hospital. There he was diagnosed with Lymphoma. He fought a brave battle against this dreadful disease and at the beginning of treatment it looked like he would beat cancer once again. This was not to be as on Halloween he was once again admitted to the hospital and died a week later with his family at his bedside.

There will be a Celebration of Life for Glenn on Sunday, November 27th from 2:00 to 5:00 PM at the Clackamas Community Center located at 15711 SE 90th Avenue, Clackamas, OR.