Claassen, Arthur P. (1926-2005)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 2005 Dec 5 p. 8

Birth date: 1926 Nov 11

ARTHUR P. CLAASSEN

Arthur P. Claassen, 78, of Beatrice, Neb., died Oct. 28, 2005. He was born Nov. 11, 1926, in Beatrice, where he lived his entire life.

He was a 1944 graduate of Beatrice High School and served in the U.S. Army from 1946-49 in Germany.

He married Elfrieda Reinhart on Oct. 2, 1948, in Frankfort, Germany. He was involved in commercial construction for 44 years with Beatrice Concrete Co., C & R Engineering, the University of Nebraska, the Essex Corp., as well as seven years operating Claassen Concrete Construction in Beatrice.

He was a member of Beatrice Mennonite Church and had served on the church board, was a member of American Legion Bitting-Norman Post 27, and Veterans of Foreign Wars Geddes-Thober Post 1077, both in Beatrice. He was a former member of the board of directors of the Beatrice Community Hospital and Homestead Village.

Survivors include his wife, Elfrieda; a daughter, Sylvia Elia and her husband, Frank, of Omaha; a son, Mark Claassen and his fiance, Athena Baldwin of Lufkin, Texas; a brother, Ernest Claassen of Holmesville; former daughter-in-law, Kathy Claassen-Burch of Lufkin, Texas; six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Henry W. Claassen.