Richard Dean Klug

Richard "Dick" Klug, 73 of Alexandria, formerly of Eagle Bend, passed away at his residence at the Galeon Senior Living, Wellness, Care, & Recovery Center in Osakis on Sunday, August 3rd, 2025. A public visitation will be held Saturday, August 30th, 2025 at The Locals in Garfield from 1:00 PM until 4:00 PM, with a prayer service beginning at 2:00 PM. 

Richard Dean "Dick" Klug was born December 25th, 1951 to Adolph "Bud" and Bernice "Bernie" Klug in Bertha, Minnesota. Baptized and confirmed at Petri Lutheran Church, Eagle Bend, Minnesota. Dick attended Eagle Bend School and was considered quite the "rebel" in his high school years, which happened to get him kicked out of school in his junior year.

However, the high school principal had bigger plans for Dick - acknowledging his talents and smarts to fix anything motorized at an early age. He pushed Dick to receive his GED as well as enrolling him at the Wadena Area Technical Institute. Dick graduated and received his Auto Mechanics diploma in 1971. His love of music found him performing with a group of other local musicians in a band known as "The Charms". He always considered it an honor to perform and listening to the girls scream as if the small town band were as famous as "The Beatles". He was employed by Paul Pearson's Drive-In and Southdale Chevrolet in St. Paul as well as Engebretson Chevrolet in Eagle Bend. He became involved in stock car racing in the late 60's early 70's, building a car with a best friend who shared the common interest of racing, Jerry Lorentz...the rest is history. Traveling to Alexandria every Saturday night to race, and Sunday nights to the Weetown Track near Fergus Falls, it became a friend & family racing lifestyle. 

In 1969, Dick started dating his high school sweetheart, Marilyn Nelson. A couple memories of his "driving ability" during their dating years was when he rolled Marilyn's MINT 1962 Chevrolet Impala on rumble bump while traveling at a speed of 30mph, which was highly unusual, outside the Clarissa Ballroom attending Sharon (Marilyn's sister) and Ardeen's wedding dance. Another "not so good memory" was after a night at the Clarissa Ballroom Teen Hop, Dick followed Sharon and Marilyn home in their parent's 1966 Ford. Showing off with a burnout at the end of our driveway, he sideswiped the Ford, wiping out the rear quarter panel of the car. Kenny met Dick at the gas station the next morning after seeing blue paint on the car....hmmm - that was a dead giveaway. Dick agreed to pay for the repairs installing a new quarter panel but never finished the deal by painting it. Dick and Marilyn were united in marriage March 24th, 1973, making their home in Eagle Bend. 

After building engines in the spare bedroom of their mobile home they decided it was time to purchase a home and build a shop in 1975, Klug's Service Clinic featuring Little Richard's High Performance Parts - where he gained fame as a trusted mechanic and guru at engine building...Marilyn called him the "Smokey Yunick of MN" and known to many as "King Richard". 

To this union, two children were born...Son Jesse and daughter Jodi. In 1981, they built a shop in Alexandria, Klug's Engine Service and Machine Shop. Dick continued racing stock cars in the tri-state area winning many races and track championships, as well as continuing to build engines throughout the United States and Canada. Moving to Alexandria in 1982, the family became involved in 6 year old son, Jesse's go cart racing, later being a crew member and engine builder of Jesse's mini-mod and dirt late model cars. He was also a guru of setting up winning race cars and sponsored several racers. After selling the shop in Alexandria, they built a shop at their home. Dick proudly named it "Home Run Engines" reasoning that he built the engines at home and they ran! One of Dick's most memorable honors was being inducted into Viking Speedway's Hall of Fame in 2018. He was humbled and honored for the acknowledgment of his racing career. 

In 2015, he was diagnosed with early onset dementia/Alzheimer's which ended his career of engine building. He spent the last three years living at Bridgewell Memory Care in Osakis. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Marilyn; son, Jesse; and daughter, Jodi (Ben) Johnson; grandchildren: Brady Kielpikowski, Cruz and Phoenix Klug, and Ryan and Emma Johnson. He is preceded in death by his parents and sister, Kathleen "Kay" Barringer; along with his faithful dog companion, Billie.

Dick will be missed by all who knew him. Remember him for his contagious smile and fun loving race-acholic attitude. A legend at racing and engine building, and as the saying goes "legends never die!" Fly high #28. You've crossed the finish line and taken your last checked flag! RIP...until we meet again.

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