Alice Marlene Klimper
Alice Marlene Klimper
By the light of the moon, Marlene was peacefully reunited with Jesus and her beloved family on Wednesday, September 22, 2021. At age 73 she far exceeded the life expectancy for a person with Down Syndrome, truly a living legend!
Alice Marlene Klimper was born May 30, 1948, in Malta, MT, to Max and Dorothy (Whitcomb) Klimper. She was a cute little thing that would live life large! She first attended school in Fromberg where her father taught and then went to boarding school in Boulder. As an adult she resided in Butte at the Paul Clark Home and the Rahn House where she enjoyed living and working with her peers and friends. She inspected boot liners, specialized in food preparation and was famous for her Rose Milk Salad. The twilight of her life was spent at Great Falls Benefis Extended Care which brought her full circle closer to family.
Marlene came from a long line of Montana gold mining pioneers and was true to her roots. She worked hard, had a good sense of humor, loved to tease and be teased, and was happy anywhere. She was confident yet considerate, competitive yet humble, sincere and oh, so brave. Her favorite things were church, singing, entertaining, journaling, polishing her nails, matching clothes, latch hooking rugs, Bingo, chocolate, meatloaf, Lawrence Welk and the Dallas Cowboys.
She said the highlights of her life were time with family, the 2000 Whitcomb family reunion in Zortman, being a style show model, a trip to Disney World and the 1987 International Special Olympic Games in Indiana where she competed as an all-around gymnast and brought home the silver medal. The aptly named theme was “A Time for Heroes”. She truly was a hero blessing our lives by hers. Not every superhero wears a cape, but she earned one!
Marlene was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings: Louis Klimper, Charles Klimper, Kathleen Larum, Maxine Stevens and Clay Malisani. She was a one in a million aunt to 24 nieces and nephews.
A Funeral Mass will be held at 10 am Tuesday, September 28 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Great Falls followed by the Rite of Committal at 12:30 pm at the Stanford Cemetery. Memorials in honor of Marlene are suggested to Special Olympics Montana, 710 First Avenue North, Great Falls, MT 59401 or somt.org.
Condolences may be shared online at schniderfuneralhome.com.
