Nora S. Kleeman

Nora S. Kleeman, 94, of Evansville, passed away peacefully Thursday, August 13, 2015, at St. Mary’s Medical Center. She was born April 17, 1921, in Calhoun, KY, to the late Louis Leo and Mary Jane (Vincent) Baughn. She was the youngest of five sisters, whom they fondly nicknamed Pee-Wee, because she was small, but mighty.

She was a resident of River Pointe Health Campus on the East Side of Evansville for over two years. Nora worked as an audit clerk for General Electric for almost 40 years, and she loved her work. She was offered a position in Singapore with GE when they needed trainers, after opening a plant there. Instead of moving overseas, she opted for retirement. She was so proud to have worked at GE for so many wonderful years.

Nora was married three times – first to “Pete” Stiles in Calhoun, KY. Pete was killed in a tractor accident when Nora was still very young, unfortunately. In 1960, she married the second time to attorney William Sandidge of Owensboro, KY. William was educated at the University of Chicago, and was the attorney for GE while Nora was working there. William passed away from cancer in 1975. Nora’s third husband was William “Bill” Kleeman, whom she married in 1977 at Good Shepherd Church in Evansville. After marrying, Nora and Bill moved to Newburgh, where they lived until Bill passed away from cancer in 1992. She was also preceded in death by her parents and four sisters, Tura, Lena, Verna and Jean.

She loved two sports – golf and bowling! She met her third husband Bill, playing golf, and everyone who knew Nora will tell you that her weekends were spent watching her favorite players, “Tiger” and “Phil” in all their tournaments on TV. When she wasn’t playing bingo or being involved in all the many activities at River Pointe, Nora was watching “her golf.” Her friends at River Pointe took her to McDonald’s golf course last year to play three holes and she had a ball! She played in GE’s golf leagues, as well as bowling leagues and she was a fierce competitor! In her later years, she looked forward to going bowling with the Durchholz family around the holidays every year. And she always wanted to win! Nora and her team also won the Wii bowling league at River Pointe – so she was good at computer bowling, too.

Another passion of Nora’s was her crafts. When she lived in Newburgh, Nora’s entire detached garage was turned into a workshop for her crafts. This petite woman had a band saw, a table saw, a lathe, a sander, and many, many more tools, as well as lumber and sheets of plywood stacked from the floor to the ceiling. Nora was well known for her talents at cutting out the wooden items, painting them, and selling them at craft shows and to her friends. Many people she met after she gave up her workshop still have her items with her trademark “NK” on the reverse side.

The third activity that Nora loved was her volunteer work at St. Mary’s. A “Pink Lady” for over 20 years, Nora loved going to “work” at least once a week to deliver flowers and cards to the patients, as well as any other work she was given by Kahla and Joni. It pained her to retire from that work, as she loved bringing so much joy to others.

Finally, Nora loved living at River Pointe Health Campus. She was a resident for over two years and it was hard to reach Nora on her phone in her room during the day. She was always downstairs exercising, going out to lunch, playing bingo, doing crafts, listening to music or participating in some other activity. She told people often that “River Pointe is the best place I have ever lived” and loved all her friends there, as well as the staff. I think the love was mutual. You couldn’t help but love this sweet little woman. Her special friends, Eula and Martha, as well as many others, will miss Nora dearly.

She is survived two nephews, Rev. Jerry (Martha) Ford of Owensboro, KY and Billy (Mattie) Ford of Lebanon, TN, and their respective children and grandchildren; her caregiver of almost twenty-five years, Nikki (Kenneth) Stewart (Nora called her Caron) of Bradenton, FL. Nora and Nikki referred to each other as Godmother and Goddaughter – they weren’t related by blood, but God did bring them together and they loved each other as much as a mother and daughter could. Nora also leaves behind some very special friends, Theresa Pate and Ray Thomas of Evansville, Brian Lankford of Evansville, Charlene Parker of Tell City, the entire Durchholz family - Jim and Cheri Durchholz of Evansville and their children, Nick, Christie (Hemi), Jimmy (Tracey), Janell (Nic), Jackie (Kyle), and David, Father Jack Durchholz of Ferdinand, and Janet and Bill Peter of Evansville and their children, Maria (Mike), Andy (Wendy) and Ben (Kelsey).

Nora’s best friend, Mickey Durchholz, Janet Peter’s, Jim and Father Jack’s mother, passed away in 2005 and Nora missed her so much every day – and now, they are together again in heaven. Nora leaves so many people behind who loved her at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, St. Mary’s Medical Center, and River Pointe Health Campus, all of whom are richer in this life by experiencing Nora’s warmth and friendship.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be 10:00 AM Tuesday, August 18, 2015, at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 2301 North Stockwell Road, officiated by Rev. Zach Etienne. Friends may visit Tuesday from 9:00 AM until service time at the church. Nora will share eternity in a mausoleum with her beloved Bill Kleeman in Alexander Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, Nora requested memorial contributions be made in her name to the St. Mary’s Foundation at www.stmarys.org or to Sugar’s Gift, Inc. at www.sugarsgift.org. Condolences may be made online at www.AlexanderEastChapel.com.