Hazel Sheldon Klauck

Klauck, Hazel Sheldon
June 26. 1921 - May 9, 2011

Hazel Sheldon Klauck, 89, of Santa Fe, N.M., formerly of Sarasota died May 9, 2011.
Memorial gathering will be in Sarasota in June 2011.
Survivors include her son, Duke of Santa Fe, N.M.
Hazel passed away in her sleep at her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico after a long and interesting life. Born in St. Louis, she attended the University of Illinois, where she met her husband John. They married in 1941 and spent 65 inseparably happy years together.
She followed John throughout the South while he trained as a B-29 pilot before being sent to the Pacific in the waning days of World War II. On his return, they opened two five & dime stores in Chicago. Moving to Florida in 1960, they built a store on undeveloped St. Armand's Key. The Klauck store soon became the go-to place where residents shopped for their daily needs and tourists stocked up on everything from beach towels to live baby alligators.
Hazel was a stoic. Two of her favorite sayings were, "Waste not, want not" and "You do what you have to do". She was a natural artist and a great cook. She made all her own clothes, filling her closets with dresses, shirts, and pants made from fabric collected from around the world.
John and Hazel built six Hallmark card and gift stores in Florida. To keep the books, Hazel learned to use one of the first mainframe computers. In 1982 they bought a home in Santa Fe, following their son Duke, owner of Ten Thousand Waves. Each year they spent part of the year in Santa Fe, part in Sarasota, and the rest of the time in far-flung corners of the world.
Hazel kept up with her friends in both Sarasota and Santa Fe, feisty 'til the end. They don't make them like her any more!