Elmer Rudolph Klemenc

Elmer Rudolph Klemenc, 94, passed from this life onto the next on July 3, 2026, one day shy of the country’s 250th birthday, at a VA home in Alexander City, Alabama. If you could have asked him — and we all know his propensity to exaggerate — he would have claimed all the fireworks that next day were part of his big send off.

Elmer was born Dec. 16, 1931, to Frank and Anna (Miner) Klemenc in German Township, a municipality in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, where his father was a coalminer. Together with his brothers, Frank and Henry, and sister Alice (Severns), Elmer’s family lived in nearby Edenborn until 1940 when they moved to Cleveland, Ohio. There, the family operated a grocery store.

As a teen, Elmer played baseball in high school but never really excelled in academics. Although algebra escaped him, he had an uncanny ability to do math in his head which would help him later in life to build furniture without plans and come out on top in cards.

The U.S. Army drafted Elmer in 1952 and he served in the Korean War as a technical sergeant in an ordnance depot in Korea. He was discharged in 1954 and returned home to Cleveland.

In 1958, Elmer married Jean Lee Hoff and they moved to Springfield and then Westfield, Massachusetts, where Jean gave birth to their five children. While there he worked for Cheney Bigelow Wire Works manufacturing wire cloth for the paper industry, working his way up to foreman.

In 1970, the family packed up and moved South to Alabama, where Cheney Bigelow had promoted Elmer to plant superintendent in Columbiana. He bought a new house in Montevallo on an extensive piece of property that would be home to the family for many years to come. There, Elmer cultivated a massive garden that just kept on giving. It not only fed the family but plenty of the neighbors, too.

Growing up, his children remember celebrating holidays and gathering around the kitchen table with delicious meals, tons of homegrown fruits and vegetables, and lots of laughter. Elmer was known far and wide for his never-ending tomatoes and daily watermelon feasts after a hot summer’s day.

In his later years, he put out quite a spread in the backyard entertainment area he built, complete with a picnic table, tree house and horseshoe pit. The menu often included ribs, barbeque, his cucumber salad and homemade strawberry ice cream.

Beginning in his early days to his last, Elmer the Great was quite the storyteller. From wild toboggan rides across a pond to his white cat that beat up dogs, he always had the audience in stitches.

Although the paper plant shut down four years after they moved to Montevallo, the family stayed put. Following in his father’s footsteps, Elmer tried his hand as a grocer at a store (with gas pumps) he bought in Jemison, but that stint only lasted a year.

He went on to become a foreman at Alabaster Industries (a custom household plastic manufacturer), at Barber’s Dairy ice cream (the kids loved the perks of that job) and at a rival plastic plant in Leeds before returning to Alabaster until it closed due to outsourcing overseas. Retiring at 62, Elmer finished out his working career in the grocery business with Kraft Foods.

Jean, the emotional center of the family and the light of Elmer’s life, passed away from cancer in 1992. Before she died, they enjoyed travel via car, cruises and bus tours across the country. In the early years, there were annual family trips to Gulf Shores with all the kids piled into the station wagon.

In the final years before her death, Elmer was Jean’s loving and doting caregiver who was devastated when he lost her. Afterwards, he lived alone and still hosted family gatherings. Not happy by himself, he moved his mother from Pennsylvania to live with him in her remaining years.

After she died, he sought out companionship with Mary Fisher and the two hit it off, marrying in 2002. That year, he sold the house in Montevallo, and they moved to a new one in Maylene. The ensuing years were filled with togetherness, travel, dancing, games, cards and social gatherings with friends and family until Mary passed away in 2019.

Mary and Elmer’s families often enjoyed birthday and Christmas gatherings at The Club atop Red Mountain which, according to Elmer, boasts “the best view in America.”

Above all, ballroom dancing dominated the couple’s social life. A gracious and patient dance partner, he relished Mary’s grace but wasn’t bothered by his girls’ two left feet. He was simply happy to share his love of dancing with everyone. To that end, Elmer served as president of the Jackals Chapter of BBDC/The Birmingham Fraternal Council and was a member of the Concordia Dance Club.

On the flip side, he was one heck of a gardener. Rumors had it that he could put a stick in the ground and something would grow and bloom. Which wasn’t too far from the truth.

Elmer was also handy with tools. There wasn’t much he couldn’t do in the home maintenance department — from fixing cars and bicycles to wallpapering and painting — no job was too big or too small. However, one of his specialties was making furniture and accent pieces such as an altar for the church, a toy chest for a grandson and storage pieces for his kids and friends that they still cherish today.

Elmer loved his sports, both live and on TV, with football, baseball, bowling and golf topping the list. He was a big Notre Dame fan although it was hard to tell in a house full of Mary’s Alabama memorabilia.

Besides work and family, Elmer was a community asset, serving as a Cub Scout master, Montevallo High School Band Booster president and twice as Lions Club president, among his many endeavors. He also served as a member of the Selective Service System for 20 years.

A man grounded in faith, he was the 25th member of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church. For many years afterward, he served as an usher.

In the end as dementia creeped into his being, Elmer was grateful for the help from his family and Wendolyn Anderson, his devoted caregiver who became a dear friend, as well as the services provided by the Veterans Administration.

All in all, Elmer lived a long and full life, with plenty to be proud of and plenty mourning the loss of an extraordinary man. No exaggeration there.

Elmer is predeceased by his parents and siblings, as well as his wives, Jean and Mary, and his eldest daughter, Lorraine. He is survived by his son, John (Stacey), and his daughters, Ann Mersmann (Jeff), Mary Mayo (Tom) and Kay Hornick (Brad), as well as his son-in-law Lindsay Hill. Also surviving him are his grandchildren Jillian Van Ells, Jesse Hill, Troy Klemenc, Chase Klemenc, Clay Hornick and Sylvie Fuller. And he was blessed with three great grandchildren, Jasper Wible, Ruby Wible and Malcolm Klemenc. He also leaves behind a host of nieces and nephews.

A celebration of a life well lived will be held Friday, July 24, at Rockco Funeral Home, 3715 Highway 25 South, Montevallo. Visitation begins at 10 a.m. with a funeral service with military honors at 11 a.m. A reception immediately follows at the funeral home. All are invited to attend. The family will have a brief graveside service at the Montevallo City Cemetery and return to the reception.

Many thanks to Rockco Funeral Home and Dignity Memorial for assisting with preparations.