Edward T. Kleinknecht

Salem - Our Beloved Parents, Florence (Edna) and Edward T. Kleinknecht, went home to be with the Lord. Our Mother was 81 years old and passed on at 4:48 p.m. July 5, 2005 and our Dad was 84 years old and passed on at 10:10 a.m. on July 6, 2005. Our Lord has chosen to take our parents together, Mom following a long illness with cancer and Dad following a short illness with cancer. They had lived in Salem 12 years, coming from Leetonia, where they had spent most of their life.

Dad's last job was in Columbiana, working for Howell Burial Vaults, but he also worked for years for the Leetonia Street Department and the Oakdale Cemetery before taking a part time job cleaning local businesses. Mom was a homemaker who took on extra jobs cleaning and ironing for local teachers and friends, later working part time with the same cleaning company as Dad.

They were both members of the Phillips Christian Church in Salem where they cherished the Lord, their large family and friends. Mom's special passion was putting beautiful puzzles together and preserving them in frames; and Dad's passion was flower gardening and plants.

They were preceded in death by their parents, William and Alma Fagan Kleinknecht and George and Minnie Ramsey Brooks; Mom's brothers, Herbert and Albert Brooks and sisters, Eva Bolling, Martha VanKirk, and Lela Philippi; Dads's brothers, John, Richard, Rowland, and Bob Kleinknecht; Dad's Sisters, Charlotte Perkins and Helen Perkins; and Mom and Dad's babies, Shirley, Patricia, Edna, and a set of twin boys.

They leave behind ten children and their families; Edward and Sandra Kleinknecht, Tom and Pat Kleinknecht, Gary and Carol Kleinknecht, all of Leetonia, Bob and Linda Kleinknecht, Jean Frampton, Cindy and Keith Stephens, Debbie and Richard Vogt, and Karen and Jim Flores, all of Salem, Eva and Gary Campbell of Rogers and Jonie and Frank Brilliant of Virginia. Our loving parents had 26 grandchildren, 21 great grandchildren, and one great great grandson. Dad leaves behind a brother, Lawrence Kleinknecht of Salem.

Joint funeral services will be held at 3:00 p.m. Saturday, July 9, 2005 at the Woods-Rettig Funeral Home, Leetonia, with Mr. Bob Laughlin, Minister officiating. Burial will follow in Oakdale Cemetery. Friends may call at the funeral home from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday.

The family asks that any material tributes be made to either Hospice of the Valley, who tenderly cared for them during their illnesses or the Phillips Christian Church who helped guide them to the Lord. We will all truly miss them.