Raymond R. Klaudt, 96, of Lewiston, was called to his heavenly home on Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022. Ray was born to Henry and Olga Klaudt in the small German-speaking community of Linton, N.D., as the fourth of nine children. A child of the Great Depression, he learned early the value of hard work and personal responsibility.
Ray served for a time in the Roosevelt-era Civilian Conservation Corps, stationed in western Montana prior to enlisting in the U.S. Navy in late 1943. He completed basic training at Farragut Naval Training Station on southern Lake Pend Oreille and went on to serve in the South Pacific from early 1944 until the end of World War II in 1945. Ray was honorably discharged in 1946, and married his sweetheart, June Stringer, in Seattle, Wash. They settled briefly in North Dakota where their son, Ron, was born; then in 1949 moved back to the Olympic Peninsula where their daughter, Coral, was born and where Ray started his civil service career at Fort Worden, near Port Townsend. Ray transferred to Fort Missoula in 1953, and the family moved to western Montana. Ray and June raised their family in Missoula where son, Dale, was born, until Ray was offered the position of administrative services section head at the Clearwater National Forest in 1968. The family moved to Orofino, where Ray worked for the Clearwater National Forest until his retirement in 1980.
The Klaudts purchased a home in Peck in 1972 and lived there for 30 years, during which time Ray served a term as town mayor. Ray and June were instrumental in starting the Clearwater Alliance Church in Orofino, and they served their Lord and Savior with love and generosity. The Klaudts were known as faithful disciples of the Lord Jesus and were quick to share the Gospel wherever and with whomever they could.
After Ray retired from civil service, he spent many years as a beekeeper before age necessitated the sale of his honey business and their Peck home. They moved to Clarkston, Wash., in 2002, and remained there until June’s death in 2018. While there, they were active in the Living Heritage Free Methodist Church.
Ray was preceded in death by his youngest son, Dale, in 2012; his wife of 72 years, June, in 2018; as well as his parents and his four brothers and four sisters. Ray is survived by son Ron (Rita) of Juneau, Alaska.; daughter, Coral (Theron) Bruce of Peck; and five grandchildren, 10 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
The urns of Raymond and June Klaudt will be interred together in the Lewis and Clark Memorial Gardens. A memorial service and celebration of Ray’s life will be held for family and friends at a later date.
