Marjorie Kleven, age 96, passed away on April 22, 2022 at St. Crispin’s Care Center in Red Wing, Minnesota. She was born October 27, 1925 at home on their farm near Lynd, Minnesota to Clara (Pope) and Carl Mord, a Swedish immigrant. She attended country schools in the area until high school when she attended Lynd High School. When she was 17 the family moved to a farm near Wheaton, Minnesota and Marjorie moved brie昀y to Huron, South Dakota living with her sister and brother-in-law and later to Mankato, Minnesota where she attended beauty school. On June 29, 1946 in St. Paul, Minnesota she married John Kleven from Montevideo. John became a family friend when he was part of a carpentry crew building the barn on their family’s farm. John and Marjorie lived on the east side of St. Paul in a house that John and his father built.
They had one child, Linda. Marjorie worked at J.C. Penney’s for a number of years and loved working and being with people. When John retired from the Milwaukee Railroad in 1979 they moved to Red Wing to be near their daughter and grandsons. John died in 2004 and Marjorie moved to Hastings where she made a large circle of friends that she enjoyed. In 2019 she suffered a stroke and moved to St. Crispin’s in Red Wing. Grandma Marj loved to be part of her family’s life and nothing gave her more joy than spending time with her family and helping them in anyway she could. She and John were always available to babysit their grandsons and attended every event the boys were in. She continued to be interested in the lives of her great-grandchildren and fortunately lived long enough for them to share memories of her. She loved to shop, go for walks, make dessert, read, follow the news, and garden. She loved animals and was blessed with endless energy and made the best chow mien and lefse. Making lefse at Christmas time with her family continued to be a family event, with Grandma Marj doing most of the work, including directing others while having a glass of wine.
She was predeceased by her husband John in 2004, her three older siblings and their spouses: brother Francis Mord (Lois), sisters Vivian (Bill Smith), and Verna (Bud Arfmann), nephew Robert Smith and niece Jean Arfmann. She is survived by her daughter Linda, much loved son-in-law David in Ellsworth, Wisconsin, two grandsons: Jeremy and his wife Nancy in Plymouth and their 3 children, Karleigh, Ryland and Hattie, Trevor and wife Christi in Hastings and their two children Alydia and Elijah and 9 nieces and nephews around the country and in Canada.
She will be buried next to her husband John in Fort Snelling National Cemetery with a private family gathering.
The family would like to thank the staff at St. Crispin’s and the Mayo Hospice for the care and attention they gave Marjorie.
Marj’s smile, laugh and genuine interest in others will be greatly missed and remembered with joy.
