Lawrence W. Klish

On Monday, May 6, 2024, Lawrence (Larry) W. Klish was called home to eternal life surrounded by his loving wife Veronica, his sister Linda, and Pastor Peter Plagenz.
Larry was born on May 18, 1957 to Robert and Marcella (Hilgers) Klish in Wisconsin Rapids. He graduated from Lincoln High School in 1975. His career began at McDonald's and then he worked at Satterfield Electronics. He met his wife Veronica (Applebee) during this time, and they got married on June 9, 1979. It was then Larry found his true calling. He began his truck driving career. He started working for Wisconsin Van Lines, with a brief break to try out working at Consolidated Papers. Larry didn't like to stand idle, so he returned to Wisconsin Van Lines to drive truck once again. Since the Van Lines, he drove for Single Source and Ruan. He worked for Copps (Pick n Save) in the warehouse for a while and decided he really loved the open road and not being confined to a building. He finished his career with Standard Forwarding, retiring in May 2022. His truck routes mostly consisted of driving from here to Chicago every day, along with other stops along the way. Prior to his death, Larry was shuttling students from Wisconsin Rapids to Northland Lutheran High School in the morning. Larry was active at his church serving his Lord, volunteering his time for technology, decorating, and other odd jobs that came up. Larry was a huge model train enthusiast. He was a collector of model trains in N scale, O gauge, a few HO pieces, Lionel, and American Flyer. His favorite pastime was to take the old Lionel and American Flyer equipment and bring them back to life to run on the tracks that consume two-thirds of their basement. His hope is that the younger generation would take an interest in this hobby. Vacations usually included something train related, train rides, train museums, or even on the last trip of 2023, just having the campground next to railroad tracks with trains running constantly.
Larry is survived by his loving wife, Veronica; mother, Marcella Klish; siblings, Linda (John) Kingery, Leon (Cheri) Klish, Lyle (Tammi) Klish, Lynette (Jay) Kingery, and Lori (Scott) Goodwin; godchildren, Jacob Klish and Samantha (Bobby) Holzem; many nieces and nephews; mother-in-law, Delores Becker; other extended family and friends; and his and Veronica's German Shepherd, Lady K. He was preceded in death by his paternal and maternal grandparents; father, Robert N. Klish; and father-in-law, LaVern R. Becker.
A funeral service will be held at 4:00pm on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Wisconsin Rapids, WI. Visitation will be held at the church on Saturday from 2:00pm until the time of service.
Veronica would like to extend a special thank you to Aspirus Riverview Hospital, Dr. Navid Majid, and special nurses Andrea and Jenny; along with staff at Aspirus Wausau Hospital and RN Mitchell, for the compassionate care given to Larry during his last week of his earthly journey.
I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day (2 Timothy4:7 and following)