RayMona L. Kling

RayMona L. Kling, 90, passed away peacefully from old age Dec. 22, 2020, 2 years to the day after her husband, Darrell Kling passed.  RayMona was born September 12, 1930 in Mercer, ND, the eldest daughter of John and Magdalena Wise. 

She grew up on the family farm near Regan and graduated from Regan High School. RayMona went on to study at what was known at the time as Valley City Teacher’s College and taught at a rural elementary school for a year.  She met Darrell after he returned from service in the Navy during WW2 and they were married in 1950.  They spent the first several years of their marriage farming with Darrell’s parents in the Still and Sunne Lutheran Church area, then homesteaded between Regan and Wing where they farmed and raised livestock.  They made the farm a success and brought up 5 boys who also contributed to the operation.

RayMona loved to garden, growing vegetables to feed the family, but she was proudest of her flowers, which bloomed all colors of the rainbow from spring through fall in the huge garden and several flower beds around the house.  She also surrounded the farmstead with shelterbelts, trees and shrubs, which provided cherries for jam and apples for pies.  She completed the Master Gardener program and provided gardening advice as part of the Burleigh County’s Extension Program.  RayMona was also a great cook and kept her family well fed with caramel rolls, butterhorns, buns, donuts, kuchen, plachinda, pigs-in-the-blanket, venison and beef stews, and even attempted, on occasion, to make Darrell’s holiday lutefisk edible.  RayMona taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School and supported the Regan Assembly of God Church.  She also served on the township election board and was a perennial promoter of doing one’s civic duty.  She was thankful for far-flung relatives, friends, and neighbors and greatly appreciated their visits , never too busy to share a coffee and dessert and swap news and stories.

RayMona is survived by her sister, Gladys Weitstock (Milo), and her sons, Craig (Karyn), Tom (Susan), Marlin (Annie), Jerry, and Timothy (Julie); 10 grandchildren, and 14 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband Darrell; parents, John and Magdalena Wise; brothers, Russell and John Wise; and daughter-in-law, Sue Kling.

A public memorial service is planned to take place at graveside at the Regan Cemetery at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 29.  In the event of inclement weather, the service will be held in the Regan Assembly of God Church.

RayMona said numerous times she wanted to enjoy flowers while she was alive and no need to have them upon passing: in lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Minnesota-North Dakota Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, on-line at http://www.alz.org/mnnd or by phone at (952) 830-0512.