Obituary: Walter Claassen
KS_Newton — Walter Claassen, 96,
died Friday, June 21, 2013, at Kidron Bethel Healthcare in North
Newton.
He was born Feb. 26, 1917, in Newton to
Cornelius William and Addie Faye (Lander) Claassen. He married Helen
Elizabeth Dodson on May 11, 1947, in Milwaukee, Wis. She preceded him
in death on Dec. 17, 2005.
Walter was a lifetime member of First
Presbyterian Church, where he served as ruling elder and a member of
the church choir for more than 50 years. He was a member of the
Junior Chamber of Commerce and the Senior Chamber of Commerce and
regional president of the Kansas State Chamber of Commerce. He
received the Jaycee’s Distinguished Service Award and the Newton
Chamber’s Citizen of the Year Award.
He was a member of the Kansas Banker’s
Association and regional vice president of the organization. He
received membership into the Kansas Bankers Association Fifty Year
Club in 1970 at the association’s annual convention that year in
Topeka. He served on the Kansas-Missouri regional advisory board of
the Small Business Administration for many years. He was the original
stockholder of the Hesston Corp. and served on its board until the
company was sold to FIAT of Italy. Hesston Corp. is the third largest
farm machinery company in the United States.
He served on the USD 373 Board of
Education for eight years, the Newton Library Board for eight years,
and the Newton City Commission for four years, the Bethel College
Board of Directors for 12 years, and served many years on the United
Methodist Youthville board and the Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America
board. He was the founding member of the Board of Trustees of the
Prince of Peace Chapel in Aspen, Colo., and organizer and drive
chairman of the First United Fund Drive in Newton following World War
II.
Walter was the drive chairman for the
Bethel Hospital Capital Fund Drive to add additional hospital rooms
and the Newton campaign chairman for Newton’s Recreation Center at
the Methodist Youthville Campus. He was a board member of the
Mid-Kansas Symphony Orchestra and played in the first violin section.
He was a board member of the Family Health Plan Permanent Fund for
many years and served on the IRS Volunteer Tax Assistance Program. He
also served Meals on Wheels for more than 30 years.
He built the first new building in
downtown Newton after World War II, the Kansas State Bank, in 1957.
Following that, the First Federal Savings and Loan Building on
Broadway and Main and the second expanded Kansas State Bank in 1970
were additional new buildings on Main Street.
He was a graduate of Newton High
School, Kansas University, and the Harvard School of Business. He was
an alumnus of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He received the Balfour Award
in 1939 for the outstanding Sigma Chi in the Missouri Valley
Province, which included all Sigma Chi Chapters in Kansas, Missouri
and Nebraska. He served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and had 22
years of active and reserve duty holding the permanent rank of
captain. He was a 50-year member of VFW, American Legion and was a
50-year member of the Lion’s Club. He was awarded the Lion’s Club
Melvin E. Jones Award in 1996. He was a 32nd Degree Mason and member
of the Newton Lodge. He was a member of the Hole in One Club at Fox
Ridge Country Club and the Mt. Dora Country Club in Mt. Dora, Fla.
