Joan C. Kleen

Joan C. Kleen, age 84, passed away of natural causes at the Mapleton Community Home on April 24, 2022.

A Memorial Service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Monday, May 2, 2022, at Hosanna Lutheran Church, Grace Point Chapel, Mankato. Visitation will be one hour before service at the church on Monday. Interment will be in St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery, rural Rapidan, MN. Mankato Mortuary is handling arrangements. Memorials may be given to Hosanna Lutheran Church, Alzheimer’s Association, or the Rapidan Historical Society.

Joan Carol was born to Herman E. and Lucille E. (Gilberts) Kleen on March 23, 1938, in Pleasant Mound Township, rural Amboy. She was baptized on April 10, 1938, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Amboy and confirmed at the same on June 15, 1952. She grew up in the rural Amboy area and graduated from Amboy High School in 1956. Their family moved from the Amboy farm to the Rapidan farm in 1959 where she lived for the rest of her life. She taught Bible and Sunday School in both the Amboy and Rapidan churches. Joan was employed by the City of Mankato Water Department for many years and later by the Blue Earth County Human Services Department for many years. She was very active in the MN Federation of Women’s Clubs for 50 years. She enjoyed attending and participating in their conventions. She also volunteered for the Rapidan Heritage Society and Hosanna Lutheran Church, doing volunteer services in the community. She greatly enjoyed 24 years of retirement with flower gardening, crafting, and needlework.

Loved ones that survive Joan include her Kleen cousins, Jerry and Debbie Kleen, Susan and Matthew Schmidt, Howard Kleen, Dale and Amy Kleen, Charlotte Hase, Gaylyn “George” and Vicky Hase, John Petersen, Karen and William Bieber; uncle, Orin Birr; Gilberts cousins, Darla Kopischke, Richard Schulz, Dee Waldron, Steve and Becky Birr, Scott and Jackie Birr, Pam and Neil Mattick, Brenda Birr, Cheryl and Dan Klages and all their families. She is also survived by special friends, Mavis Gessner, Curt and Debbie Fisher, Marilyn Lehnert, many neighbors, friends, and others.

Joan was preceded in death by her parents; aunts and uncles, Harold “Shorty” and Irene Kleen, Donald and LuAnn Kleen, Louis and Helen Kleen, Elsie and Fred Hase, Violet “Bill” and Willard Schulz, Richard “Dick” and Juanita Cue, Emmet “Bud” Gilberts, and Dorla Birr; cousins, Kenneth Hase, Marianne Petersen, Gerry Fox, and Larry Birr; and close friend, Ruth Spore.

The family would like to thank the wonderful staff at the Mapleton Community Home for their excellent care given to Joan and a special thank you to all the neighbors who helped her stay in her home in the recent years. Your kindness and thoughtfulness will never be forgotten.