Joyce Ann Kleingartner

Kleingartner Joyce Ann (Andersen) Kleingartner, age 87, passed away August 1, 2016 in the Barnes Nursing Center of Wesley Ridge Retirement Community, Reynoldsburg, OH. Joyce was born February 27, 1929, in Minneapolis, MN, the only child of the late Carl Severin and Jennie Elfrieda Andersen. A 1947 graduate of Roosevelt High School, she began working as a teenager and spent her career, apart from a few years off raising her child, as an executive secretary with an oil company, medical transcriptionist, and medical office administrative assistant/manager. On July 19, 1952, she married Calvin Kleingartner (who survives) just before his deployment with the Army in the Korean War. Having lived in and traveled to many places within the US for his job with Augsburg Fortress Publishers, after early retirement they favored Sanibel and Marco Islands, FL. Joyce is also survived by her only child, Laurel Ann "Lori" Brown; son-in-law, Thomas Brown Jr.; and granddaughters, Annisa Marie "Annie" and Jenina Louise "Jennie" Brown. Other survivors include cousins who were like sisters to her, Lois (Donald) Twedt of SD and Marie (Phillip) Ryden of MN. Also her husband's siblings who treated her like a sister, Lorraine (Archie) Olson of ND, Helen (Earl) Slater of ND, Fred (Linda) of FL, Ione Lynch of AZ, Archie (Dorothy) of CA, and Darlene Lobenstein of WI; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Preceding her in death were two other close cousins Miriam "Dodie" and Roger Insley of IN and Lorraine (Pete) Simpson of MN, as well as several other cousins and their spouses, and aunts and uncles. Her in-laws who have passed were Ruth and Arnie Shannon of MN, Gottfried "Doc" and Marlys of MI, Arthur (while serving with the US Navy), and three of Cal's brothers who died young Thomas and twins Norman and Norbert. More important than even the strong family bonds which she maintained across years and distances, was Joyce's lifelong Christian faith. She was a member of the Lutheran Church and very active in all its lay ministries devoted to children, as well as women's circles. There was no funeral and cremation performed. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Charitable Care Fund at Wesley Ridge, 2229 Taylor Park Drive, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068.