Nellie Kleven

Nellie M. Kleven, age 87, of Willmar, died Tuesday afternoon, April 11, at the St. Cloud Hospital.
Memorial services will be 11 a.m. Monday, April 17, at Vinje Lutheran Church in Willmar with Rev. Steven Knudson officiating. Interment will be in the Cloverleaf Memorial Park Cemetery in Willmar. Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service at the church. Memorials are preferred to the Children's, Youth or Music Ministries at Vinje Lutheran Church.

Nellie Mae Kleven was born July 28, 1918, near Depauw, Indiana, the daughter of Daniel and Rella (Harmon) Taylor. Her family later moved to a farm near Olivia, Minnesota. She grew up and received her education in the Olivia community, graduating from Olivia High School in 1936. She then attended Minneapolis Business College, graduating in 1938. She worked at the Renville County Court House in Olivia. In 1946, Nellie moved to Willmar and began work as a bookkeeper for the Kandiyohi County Highway Department. On April 19, 1947, she married Wallace F. Kleven at Vinje Lutheran Church in Willmar and they made their home on the Kleven farm east of Willmar. She attended the Glencoe Normal School and St. Cloud State College, graduating with a degree in education. She taught for several years in various rural schools and later taught third grade at Lincoln Elementary School in Willmar from 1968-1983. She was an active member of Vinje Lutheran Church, serving on the Altar Guild and Church Council and as a Confirmation Mentor and Sunday School Teacher. In her later years, she volunteered at Radiaiton/Oncology at Rice Memorial Hospital and at Roosevelt and Kennedy Elementary Schools. Nellie resided at Sunrise Village in Willmar for the past several years.

She is survived by a son, Daniel (and Deb) Kleven of Willmar; three daughters, Jodie (and Thom) Sandberg of Minneapolis, Kathleen Kleven of Minneapolis and Lisa (and Eric) Lehrer of Chanhassen; eight grandchildren, Eric Kleven, Anna Sandberg, Grant Kleven, Betsy Sandberg, Andrew Kleven, Isabelle Lehrer, Jack Lehrer and Thomas Lehrer and other relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her husband, Wallace in 1991 and five brothers, Ralph, Joe, Jess, Paul and Harry.