October 2, 1943 - February 24, 2022
Ron Klein passed away on February 24, 2022 at the age of 78. Ron was born to Elmer and Elvera (Block) Klein on October 2, 1943 in Lexington, NE. He grew up in Gothenburg, NE graduating from Gothenburg High School in 1961. He attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering in 1966. He married Jody Barkson on December 10, 1967 and had two children Jackie and Richard.
Ron worked many jobs as an electrical engineer starting at Motorola and other companies including: Hewlett-Packard, IBM and Ball Aerospace. He worked on multiple types of hardware projects ranging from floppy disk readers to satellite technology, spending a majority of his career in the defense industry. He retired from Ball Aerospace in 1998 after 32 years in the industry.
Ron had a variety of hobbies in retirement including ham radio, family history research and exploring his fascination with John Deere tractors. One of his proudest purchases was a full-size John Deere tractor to help him clear his 2.5 acre lot. This made gift shopping easy because he always loved receiving John Deere memorabilia. He spent over two decades delving deeply into family history taking multi-week road trips with his wife, Jody, to explore graveyards and other memorable U.S. historical sites. He was very proud of the family connection to the Jamestown colony and would talk about it for hours. Whenever a museum was on the trip agenda, the family knew it would take a minimum of several hours to get through because Ron would spend at least 20 minutes at every exhibit, reading everything in detail. Ham radio was another passion, ranging from participating in Field Day and contests to having weekly conversations with old friends who introduced him to the hobby. He truly enjoyed his retirement.
Ron was preceded in death by his parents, Elmer and Elvera Klein, and his uncle Gaylan Freisenborg. He is survived by his wife Jody (Josephine) Klein, his children Jackie Klein and Richard Lichlyter-Klein (Karen) and grandson Ian Lichlyter-Klein.
A memorial service will be held at Longmont Calvary Church on Friday, March 4 at 1:00 pm. Reception to follow. Calvary Address: 2101 Gay Street, Longmont, CO 80501.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Gothenburg Historical Museum, 1420 Avenue F, Gothenburg, NE 69138.
