Joan C Klemer

Joan C. Klemer, 85, Bismarck, ND, died January 18, 2016 at a Brownsville, TX, hospital. Mass of the Christian Burial will be held at 10:00 am Friday, January 22, 2016, at Church of Corpus Christi, 1919 N 2nd St, Bismarck, with the Rev. Paul Becker officiating. Visitation will be held from 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm Thursday, January 21, at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, where a vigil will begin at 7:00 pm. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will be in St. Mary’s Cemetery, Bismarck. Joan Colleen Bair was born March 6, 1930, in Bismarck, ND, to Lawrence and Josephine (Dralle) Bair. She attended St. Mary’s Grade School and graduated from St. Mary’s High School in 1948. She received an associate of arts degree from Bismarck Junior College, where she was very active in drama and theater arts. She worked as a secretary for the Cox, Pearce and Engebretson law firm, and later for the Pure Oil Company. Joan married John N. Klemer in January 1963. They made their home in Bismarck and had two sons, Lawrence and Neal. Joan had a lifelong love of books, libraries and reading, and she passed that love for the written word on to her sons. She was a stalwart supporter of the Dakota Zoo, and was a founding member of the zoo docents group. Joan was an active volunteer at the zoo for 50 years, beginning in 1965. Joan is survived by her sons, Lawrence, Bismarck, and Neal (Linda), Billings, MT; sisters, Kathleen Bair, Bismarck and Eileen Bisi, Alameda, CA; sisters-in-law, Mitzi Bair, Santa Cruz, CA, and Margaret “Peg” Stokes, Apple Valley, MN; nephews, Nick Bair, Redding, CA, Larry (Vichai) Bair, San Francisco, CA, Michael (Kim) Marini, Alameda, CA, Robert Bisi, Washington, DC, and Chris Rexroat, Boise, ID; nieces, Michelle Alexander, Philadelphia, PA, Mary (Don) Paulsrud, Ashley, ND, and Julie Stokes, Apple Valley, MN. She was preceded in death by her husband, John; brother, Gerald; parents, Lawrence and Josephine “Dell”; brother-in-law, Wallace Stokes, and nephew, Tim Rexroat. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials to Dakota Zoo.