Carl H. Bernklau

Carl H. Bernklau November 2, 1919 - March 5, 2008 Carl H. Bernklau, age 88, of Rifle, Colorado changed his address to Heaven on Wednesday, March 5, 2008 at the V.A. Hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado, due to complications of Post Polio. Memorial services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Rifle. Rifle Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements. Carl was born November 2, 1919 at his family home, 12 miles west of Rifle, where he continued to live and farm throughout his life. He was the youngest of six children of Charles J. and Dorothea Louise Leadaman Bernklau. As he grew to adulthood and continued in the ranch business, he had the privilege of working side by side with God and His creations by raising livestock, poultry and filling the soil for numerous crops. Carl married Nora Ruth Alexander on November 2, 1943, at Messiah Lutheran Church in Grand Junction. They had three children; Theodore Carl, Constance Ruth and Donald Walter. Carl was drafted for WWII in 1945 and was assigned to over seas duty in Japan with the 58th Signal Corp. He was sent home a year later to his wife and son, Ted, who was born while Carl was in Japan. After being home one week, Carl was stricken with Polio and stayed nine months in the V.A. Hospital and regained his strength while making a living on the family farm. He started raising chickens. He was known as the egg man in Garfield County until he built the first Heringbone dairy barn on the Western Slope. As the children grew, so did the farm and the diversification of animals and crops. Carl was very active in his community, belonging to and supporting many clubs and organizations. He was a member of Emmanuel Lutheran Church in Rifle; was past president and served 27 years for Bookcliff Soil Conservation District until 1976; served as Colorado's Association of Soil Conservation Districts Director from 1976 to 1980; and his most passionate calling was Western Colorado water preservation. He was president of the West Divide Water Conservancy District for 25 years, serving the district for 29 years, retiring in 1993. He also witched many water wells for many people, locally and in Oregon. He was a man of extraordinary kindness and generosity. Those grateful to have shared in Carl's life are his son and wife Ted Bernklau and Linda of Tulsa, OK; his three grandchildren Diana Bernklau Casey and husband Travis Casey of Rifle, CO; Nate Bernklau and wife Jessica of Bettendorf, IA; and Natalie Bernklau of Tulsa, OK; his two great grandchildren Alexandria Casey and Kolt Casey of Rifle, CO; and other family and friends, too numerous to mention. He was preceded in death by his parents and brothers and sisters; William, Frank, Dora (Swigerl), Kate (Lucht) and Edward, his wife Nora Ruth Alexander, his daughter Connie (Hicks) and son Don. Donations in his memory may be made to the Rifle V.A. Nursing Home, 851 E. 5th Street, Rifle, CO 81650.