No one else in Sadie (Neuenfeldt) Klemp’s family lived to be 100 years old and she did not expect to either.
But she did, and an open house was held for her at the Aster Retirement Community of Clintonville on Saturday afternoon to observe her 100th birthday.
Sadie grew up with a brother and sister on a farm, now owned by Rick and Mary Lohff, on County Road D north of Clintonville. She remembers walking across a field to visit with a neighbor, Alma Ebert.
She graduated from St. Martin Lutheran School but did not have the opportunity to attend high school because her parents were not well and she was needed at home.
When she was 18 years old, she married George Klemp.
“It was a good marriage,” she said with a quick smile.
The couple farmed on state Highway 156 east of Clintonville. It was there they raised six children—five girls and one boy.
“When I was 40 years old, George died suddenly of a heart attack,” Klemp said. “It was on a day in June when we were having an auction. I remember they were selling the last tractor when he fell over. I remember it was a mess.”
Klemp stayed on the farm less than a year. Her youngest child was 9 years old at the time.
Klemp moved into Clintonville and took a job cleaning at the Clintonville Hospital for about a year. A friend then told her about a job as a switch board operator at Urban Telephone Company.
“I took the test and I was hired,” Klemp said. “That was one thing I could do. I could spell and many times better than those that graduated from college.
“I really liked that job. I felt like I was always helping people.”
It was after she moved off the farm that she got her driver’s license. She remembers that her instructor was Duane Cismoski. She gave up driving the car when she was 97 after she ran into a snow bank.
“I really missed not being able to drive. I missed being able to just get up and go and especially driving to church,” she said.
Her favorite hobby was playing Sheepshead and she enjoyed playing in the St. Rose marathon. Since she moved to her apartment at Aster, formerly Angelus of Clintonville, almost two years ago she has not played, but she is thinking of getting back into it.
Klemp said it took her a little while to get used to the move from her house to an apartment but now she likes it.
“They are real good to me here,” she said. “Even at night they peek in the door to make sure I am OK,” she said. “I like it that there are so many from my church (St. Martin Lutheran Church) living here.”
Klemp’s children — Mary Ann Johnson, Marion; Betty Dickman, Green Bay; Ruth Hall, Oshkosh; Judy Gorges,Walworth — and a daughter-in-law, Mary, were among those attending her birthday party Saturday.
A daughter, Carolee, and a son, George, are deceased.
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