1857 - 1933

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• Birth	1 Jul 1857	Alexen, East Prussia, Germany
  Gender	Male
  Died	31 Jan 1933
  Person ID	I0314	Kletke-Durham
  Last Modified	21 Jul 2009
  Father	Gottlieb Klaedtke,   d. 1882
  Mother	Emilie Mau,   b. 22 Jan 1828,   d. 15 Oct 1877
  Family ID	F086	Group Sheet
  Family	Ottilie Wilhelmine Krause,   b. 16 Nov 1857,   d. 21 Nov 1931
  Married	12 Feb 1885
  Children	1. Helene Marie Kletke,   b. 24 Jan 1886,   d. 10 Nov 1946   2. Oscar Karl Kletke,   b. 28 Aug 1887, Konigsburg, Germany ,   d. 23 Dec 1959, Alva, Woods, Oklahoma   3. Walter Frederich Kletke,   b. 21 Sep 1889,   d. 29 Oct 1968   4. Ottilie Martha Kletke,   b. 22 Nov 1891,   d. 22 Jan 1980   5. Martha Emilie Kletke,   b. 3 Aug 1893,   d. 13 Oct 1962
  Family ID	F130	Group Sheet

• Headstones	Gottlieb Kletke Status: Located. Headstone for Gottlieb Kletke

• Notes

  Gottlieb Kletke was born July 1, 1857, near Konigsberg, Germany, the son of Gottlieb Klaedtke and Emilie nee Mau At age 12 Gottlieb sought employment and learned the stone mason's trade. When he was 20 he contracted cholera at work. While taking care of him his mother Emilie became ill with cholera and died at age 49 on Oct. 15, 1877. A younger brother age eight also died of the same illness. When still a young man he came to America and spent a year here. He then returned to Germany and was married to Ottilie Wilhelmine Krause, the daughter of Karl Krause and Amerlia nee Kletke. Ottilie was born Nov. 16, 1857 in Mohrunger Germany. Gottlieb and Ottilie, his wife, came to America. Here he changed the spelling of his name from Klaedtke to Kletke to make it easier to spell. The couple settled near Winfield, Kansas with no money, and he worked on a chicken farm for John P. Baden. Since he was a stonemason, Gottlieb helped build the first buildings of St. John's Lutheran College, at Winfield. There Gottlieb and Ottilie had four children; Helene Marie, Oscar Karl, Walter Frederich and Ottilie Martha. A fifth child, Martha Emilie was born at Mulvane, Kan., during the year that he made the 1893 Land Run into Oklahoma where they settled on a farm near Billings, in Noble County, Okla. They had many crop failures and took in boarders in their small house. One was the Rev. Herman Meier and another was Henry Schierloh, who operated a small grocery store near Billings. Rev. Meier moved to Alva in 1900 where may Lutherans had settled. In 1901 the Kletkes sold their land near Billings. Gottlieb's family moved to land he had bought east of Alva on which was a small house. Also making the move was Edward Gustav Kletke, his youngest brother and the family of his sister Helene, who had married Frederich Meyer. Gottlieb soon built a larger house and he and his sons farmed more than a half-section of land. After their children were grown and married Gottlieb and Ottilie retired to a home in Alva at 329 Church St. Several years later they built a smaller house at 327 Church Street. During his life Gottlieb farmed and also was president of the Woods County Union Bank which later housed Old Surety Insurance Company. Gottlieb became ill and was taken to Omaha, Neb. where he entered a hospital for treatment. Ottilie went with him and while there suddenly died of heart failure Nov. 29, 1931. Gottlieb died of pneumonia Jan. 31, 1933. Both are buried in the Lutheran Cemetery southeast of Alva. Helene Marie married Henry Schierloh; Oscar Karl married Emma Wamhof, and after death married Clara Wiersig. Walter Frederich married Rhoda Steve. Ottilie married Wilbur (Webb) Dimmick, and Martha Emelia wed Martin Bredhoeft whom she had met when he served Alva as vicar while attending St. Louis Theological Seminary