Mr. Benjamin "Ben" Klaudt, beloved husband of 64 years of Mrs. Alice Klaudt of Medicine Hat, passed away on Saturday, July 20th, 2013 at the age of 90 years. Ben also leaves to cherish his memory three children, Donna (Ron) Morgan, Daryl (Cindy) Klaudt, and Sandi (Brian) Unreiner; four grandchildren, Amber (Brett) Wagner, Logan Unreiner (Cori Heidinger), Kristine Klaudt, and Alex Klaudt; one brother, Sam (Georgina) Klaudt; one sister-in-law, Lydia Klaudt; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Ben was predeceased by his parents, William and Mary Klaudt; one granddaughter, Jedine Dolan; three brothers, John (Clara) Klaudt, Albert Klaudt, and Bill Klaudt; and one sister, Ruth Prossak.



Ben Klaudt was my uncle and I’m honoured to talk about him today in front of Alice, his wife of 64 years. His three kids, my wonderful cousins, Donna, Daryl and Sandi. Ben’s grandkids Amber, Logan, Christine and Alex. And his extended family, friends and neighbours.

A little later Donna and Sandi are going to talk about Ben’s family history. Me? I get to tell some stories.

As a young boy from Calgary, I was literally farmed out to my aunts and uncles south of the ‘Hat during a couple of summers. That’s how I first got to know Ben and Alice, when they were operating a mixed farm on a section and a quarter near Seven Persons. I didn’t know it then but Ben was a veterinarian, an aerologist, a mechanic, a meteorologist, an insurance adjuster, a conservationist, a butcher, a hauler, a machine operator and an optimist. In other words, he had all the skills it takes to be a successful farmer in southern Alberta.

And with three kids on the farm separated by eight years, Ben and Alice must have felt a little like zoo keepers too.

It’s through his kids—and his grandkids—that I see Ben’s influence, his legacy. None of them are afraid of hard work. Some are careful with money. Some are strong-willed. And some are competitive. Ben was all of the above. And then some.

Ben wasn’t afraid of hard work.
Every fall, up until four years ago, he used to make farmers sausage. Pretty much the entire family was conscripted to help but Ben ran the show. He butchered the pig for the pork and beef mix, ground it, stuffed the casings, smoked the links and processed them for one and a half hours in quart sealers. But guess who did the cleanup?

I’ve tried them all, including Reg’s here in the ‘Hat and Premium in Seven Persons but nothing beats Ben and Alice’s farmers sausage factory.

Ben was careful with money.
He was very proud that he could provide enough so his kids were raised by a full time mom who didn’t have to work off the farm. Those were the days.

Despite being prudent, Ben had at least a couple of guilty pleasures. There was that brand new fully loaded 1974 white Chrysler New Yorker. A land yacht if there ever was one, complete with white leather seats. What was he thinking?

And then there were those one-armed bandits Ben fought with in casinos across three provinces, three states and one ocean. For two bits a throw he almost always lost. But I’m sure in his mind he’d arm-wrestled those stinkers to a draw.

Ben was competitive.
Sandi’s going to talk about Ben’s success at bowling. So I’ll just tell how he used to compete with Tony Unreiner. Ben and Tony share a grandson and, at Christmas time when Logan was little, they used to see who could give him the most John Deere toys. I’m not sure anyone ever won that competition, except maybe Logan.

Ben was strong-willed.
Enough said.

Lastly, and most importantly, Ben loved and believed in his family. With that love and encouragement, how could they not believe in themselves.

I last saw Ben a month ago at the Klaudt family reunion in Balzac. By the way, we’re going to see some pics of that reunion in a little while. (Thank you Dean and Dana.)

At the reunion, Ben wasn’t doing too well but at 90 he was proud to be the oldest person there. The youngest was 6 months. That’s the circle of life.

Ben said to me then, “We’re the kids now,” by way of acknowledging the help Alice and he needed in order to get around. He tried to accept that help with good grace and succeeded most of the time.

I’d like to end with the story Ben used to tell at Christmas. And sometimes at Easter and Thanksgiving and other family get togethers. It’s about the horse that saved his life.

One winter’s day, when he was a young man still living with his parents, Ben had to round up a team of horses. It was so cold they were needed to pull the family car to get it started.

Ben eventually found the team and was herding it back to the barn, but his saddle horse slipped on some ice and fell. On him. His leg was broken below the knee and there was no way he could walk back to the farm house.

What to do before the shock and cold did him in? What to do?

Ben grabbed his saddle horse’s mane between its ears when it bent down to his call. Then it lifted him to his feet. Somehow he swung his broken leg over, and rode that horse back to the farmhouse. Ben’s leg was so swollen from the ride Dr. McCharles had to wait five days to set it. That story says it all about farm life. It was never easy.

We’re ever so grateful to that saddle horse today. Because we have Ben Klaudt in our lives.

Now, he’s free from the end of life’s indignities, worry and pain.

And we are all at peace.



Dad was born in the farming community of Many Islands and attended Antelope Cut School; which was located south of Dunmore. After leaving school dad had numerous different jobs such as farmer’s helper, construction worker, plumber’s helper, Ajax Coal Mine, and a truck driver. He was hard working, generous, caring and honest.

Dad’s biggest passion was farming and he was able to purchase his own land in 1955. He raised cattle and grew feed for several years. Our family farm was near Seven Persons, surrounding Klaudt’s Dam. But in 1974 dad was forced to retire due to poor health at the age of 51.

Upon retiring dad needed to find other rewarding passions. With my dad’s natural athletic ability, we weren’t surprised when he mastered his new sports of golf and bowling. Benny was a serious competitor in bowling, winning a national gold medal in the senior games. We were so proud of him! Our family would hold tournaments in bowling and golf; to this day he was undefeated. But due to sore joints and poor eyesight, he was forced once again to quit something he loved.

Upon retiring from the farm, mom and dad purchased a motorhome and fishing boat. Making several camping, fishing and golf trips, they were very fortunate to meet a lot of good people and made a lot of good friends; which means the world to our whole family.

Now the good life begins! Retirement! But before we go there, I would like to touch on the milestones in dad’s life.

Mom and dad were married in 1948, making this October 65 years of marriage. That alone is a milestone in this day and age.

Milestone #2 was the birth of Donna (the year is not important), then came Daryl and Sandi. The family life begins.

We lived on a farm and had a fairly simple life, but always had what we needed. Dad was a good provider and hard worker. Like most families from our era, the “fun loving dad” was more the “hard working dad”.

I do remember though, one Christmas when I was very young. I was in the basement of our home and my dad rushed in from outside. It was cold and he was excited. “Hurry Donna, Santa and his reindeer are here!” I raced up the stairs to join him and as we looked outside he sighed and said “Oh you just missed him, but I think he was here!” There were presents under the tree and I truly believed that Santa had visited us that night. How could he find us in the middle of nowhere “Seven Persons”.

The next and probably most important time in dad’s life was the birth of his grandchildren. First came Amber, then Logan, Kristine and last but not least, Alex. Dad was finally able to become the “fun loving” now (Grandpa) that we all loved and admired. He was a great cheerleader for volleyball, basketball, baseball and even martial arts in the last few years, always wanting to support and be there for his grandchildren.

Now getting back to retirement! A little bit of money, a newer home in the City and best of all “NO MORE WORK”! Travel took them to the Maritimes, Hawaii, Vegas, Florida and Alaska, always accompanied with friends.

Now we can’t end the travel part without a family vacation. We all know about the “Chevy Chase” vacations and I have to say this was similar. We left on a cruise from Galveston to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and then Jamaica. Sound Nice?! Never in our lives have we experienced the winds and storms that rocked our ship to such an extreme, that we were all sick, except mom and dad. Now dad has been known for his stubbornness and Grand Cayman was a perfect example of just that. There was a zoo that we attended with exotic animals like “a horse!” Signs were posted everywhere and our guide emphasized many times, “Do not pet the horse”. Now dad (being the horse whisperer he was) saw this as a reason to “pet the horse”. The horse bit him in the arm and “what can I say?” Blood, blood thinners, a panicked guide, and bandages got us back to the ship ASAP. The weather was not quite what we expected, but the time we spent together making memories was, Oh so special.

Mom and dad lived in their home on 20th Avenue for 36 years. During that time dad worked diligently in his backyard garden producing many prize vegetables. You could never change the farmer in him.

In 2010, mom and dad moved to a condo in Norwood Grande. They enjoyed activities at the condo, hosted many card games with their good friends.

The travel didn’t end there. They discovered bus tours and travelled to various places experiencing casinos and the “one armed bandits”.

Our lives changed nine months ago when we became parents to our parents. Dad struggled the most with this huge emotion he had hid for several years. He was like a huge water well. We felt that we were just getting to know him, with his quirky sense of humor.

We would take turns every weekend, making dinner in our homes and having mom and dad over; but not before taking a trip to a grocery store or drug store. There was always something that needed to be picked up. We used to joke between the two of us you have custody, what are you making for supper. At the age of 89 dad was forced to learn to cook, clean and do laundry. He would say that laundry stuff isn’t that hard, what’s the big deal? Or when it came to house cleaning, he would put his hands on his hips and say, “Well inspector, what do you think? How did I do?” We would always say “You did good dad!”

In the last months we spent a fair amount of time in emergency centres. Which we would turn into a comedy side show. He would just laugh and say “That was the best time I’ve had in a long time.”

At the beginning of July we were fortunate enough to have a family reunion on dad’s side of the family. He was so excited to see all his nieces and nephews and especially his youngest brother, Sam. That was a wonderful weekend. We remember saying to the family “This will probably be the last family picture”. It actually was, which we would like to share with you at the end of the service. Dad we love you and miss you already.



The Funeral Service will be held in SAAMIS MEMORIAL FUNERAL CHAPEL, #1 Dunmore Road SE, on Friday, July 26th, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. with Gary W. Goran officiating. Interment will take place at a later date in the Family Plot at Saamis Prairie View Cemetery. Memorial gifts in Ben’s memory may be made to the Alberta Heart & Stroke Foundation, #124, 430 - 6th Avenue SE, Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 2S8, or to the Alzheimer Society (Palliser Region), 401D - 3rd Street SE, Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 0G8. Condolences may be sent through www.saamis.com or www.gonebutnotforgotten.ca or to condolences@saamis.com subject heading Ben Klaudt. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to SAAMIS MEMORIAL FUNERAL CHAPEL AND CREMATORIUM, “The Chapel in the Park”, locally owned and directed. Should you wish any additional information, please telephone 403-528-2599.

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