Clement "Clem" Henry Steffes

Clement “Clem” Henry Steffes, 81, of La Crescent, died on Friday, February 13, 2015, at the Bethany-St. Joseph Care Center in La Crosse.

Clem was born on April 17, 1933, in Fort Atkinson, Iowa, to Clements L. and Anna (Kipp) Steffes. He attended school in Saint Lucas, Iowa, and was later stationed in Nuremberg, Germany during the Korean War while serving his country as an Army PFC-T Heavy Weapons Infantry Man (May 1953 to May 1955). He married Judith Ann Bentzen on June 11, 1955, and they resided in La Crescent their entire married life.

Clem was a professional painter for La Crescent Brush and Spray, Mississippi Valley Painting & Coating and Dow Painting. He was also an entrepreneur and owned several real estate properties and a Skelly Oil business for many years. Clem was a member of Gittens-Leidel American Legion Post 595 of La Crescent. In his free time, he loved gardening, horses, card games, “especially a good shoe of Black Jack at the Casino”, golfing, fishing and boating. He was also a craftsman and enjoyed building grandfather clocks and working on his 1930 Model A. His favorite past time of all was family gatherings with all the festivities.

Clem is survived by his wife, Judith; their children, Debra Cupp (Richard) of Charlotte, N. Car., Karen Peterson (Jim) of Canton, Minn., Gerald Steffes (Dawn) of La Crescent, and Steven Steffes of La Crescent; twelve grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. He is also survived by two brothers, Charles Steffes and Raymond Reese; one sister, Gertrude Johnson; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Clements L. Steffes and Anna (Steffes) Reese; sisters, Margie Ingvalson, Bernadette Yirkovsky, and Annie Jensen; and brother, Andrew Steffes.

Funeral services will be held at 11:30 a.m., on Thursday, February 19th, at Schumacher-Kish Funeral and Cremation Services, 111 South Oak St., La Crescent. Rev. Mike Woods will officiate. Military honors will follow at the funeral home with burial taking place at a later date in Prince of Peace Cemetery in La Crescent. Family and friends may call at the funeral home on Thursday from 9:30 a.m. until the time of service.