Don Arthur Kluthe

1951 - 2025

Don Arthur Kluthe

August 16, 1951 - June 3, 2025

Donald Arthur Kluthe, age 73, died on June 3, 2025 in Naples, Fla. after a long and courageous battle with Parkinson's Disease.

He was born on August 16, 1951 in Columbus, Neb. to Martha Spenner Kluthe and the late Alfred Kluthe. He is survived by his wife, Denise, of 39 years, his son Nicholas (Sophie) Kluthe and their children, Beau and Isla of Colleyville, Texas. Additionally he is survived by his Mother and his siblings: John (Deb) Kluthe, Dale (Kathy) Kluthe and Ann (Scott) Mabry. He was preceded in death by his father and his only daughter, Alexandra Leigh Kluthe.

Don received his BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1973 and later completed an MBA at the University of Tennessee in 1980. Don spent his entire 35 career working for Alcoa Inc. in various leadership roles in engineering, production, finance, and retired as a senior executive in the Corporate Development department in 2008. He was a gifted negotiator who worked on multiple million dollar deals while Alcoa was growing through acquisitions. He was most proud of his foreign assignments that took him to Suriname and Brazil.

Don and Denise enjoyed traveling the world. They made it a point to travel to all seven continents before Don's battle with Parkinson's made it impossible.

After retiring from Alcoa, Don spent his retirement years consulting on aluminum ventures and serving on boards including the Pelican Marsh Foundation, President of the Portofino HOA at Pelican Marsh and various private equity holdings. Don was a member of the Pelican Marsh Golf Club. Don attended Grow Church in Naples.

Special recognition and heartfelt gratitude to the staff at Aston Gardens at Pelican Marsh and to his wonderful caregivers from Avow Hospice. Their care helped the family these last few years as the disease progressed.

A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.