Lenore Ann Janssen Obituary

LENORE ANN JANSSEN, 11/27/1923-3/5/2024, Lenore Ann Janssen, passed away peacefully on March 5, 2024, surrounded by her loving family. She was 100 years old and lived a long, healthy, and joyful life. Lenore was born in Christine, North Dakota on November 27, 1923, and was the middle child of Birgie and Clara Skarvold, and sister to Marian (Skarvold) Burchill and Carl (Buddy) Skarvold. She always said she had a great childhood with loving parents and siblings and had an especially close bond with her sister, Marian. She loved to climb trees, had an artistic talent early on, and her favorite sport to play and watch was basketball.

Lenore graduated from Christine High School in 1941 and went on to Wahpeton State School of Science, Wahpeton North Dakota for one year, then to Moorehead State Teachers College for one year, receiving her teaching certificate. She taught school for two years at the Wilkin County Country School, near Breckenridge, Minnesota.

In 1943, she joined the Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES), where she served in the Personnel Office and the Communications Office in Washington D.C. After her discharge in 1946 she moved to Fargo, North Dakota, and briefly worked as a secretary for General Motors. She enrolled in the Vogue Art School in Chicago, IL, and after a year, transferred to an Art School in Denver, Colorado in 1947.

While in Fargo, she met Warren Robert Kleppe in 1945, son of Karl Kleppe and Annie (Hansen) Kleppe, from Kintyre, N.D., and they were reunited in Boulder, CO, and married on March 25, 1948. They were 23 years old. Shortly after their marriage, Warren graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder in Aeronautical Engineering and immediately secured a job with Chance Vought Aircraft in Fort Worth, TX. The family followed Warren's career and moved from Arlington, TX to Denver, CO in 1956, Minneapolis, MN in 1962, St. Louis, MO in 1968, and New Orleans, LA in 1975. Warren passed away suddenly in August 1975 and Lenore moved back to the St. Louis area to be near her two youngest children.

Lenore and Warren "Bud" shared 27 years of marriage, and were loving parents to 5 children. David Kleppe, Roger Kleppe, Karen (Kleppe) Pauls, Mark Kleppe, and Kay (Kleppe) Wolff.

Lenore moved back to Minnesota in the early 1980s and lived in Golden Valley for many years, where she met Murel A. Janssen, and they were married a year later in 1997. They were happily married for 7 years until Murel's passing in January 2004.

Lenore loved the outdoors, taking long walks, and appreciating nature in every way. She was an incredibly talented artist and enjoyed painting landscapes and still life on canvas. She was also very fashionable and always had impeccable style. She was an animal lover and shared many fond moments with her pets, her cat Boots and dog Smokey. She continued to paint into her later life and passed her love of art to her children and grandchildren. She loved attending bible study and church services and was very generous in supporting religious, political and charity causes that she believed in.

Lenore is preceded in death by her first husband, Warren, her second husband, Murel, her son Mark William Kleppe, her parents Birgie and Clara Skarvold, her brother Carl "Buddy" Skarvold, and her sister Marian (Skarvold) Burchill. She is survived by her sons David Kleppe, Roger Kleppe, son-in-law Marc Pauls, daughters Karen (Kleppe) Pauls, and Kay (Kleppe) Wolff, and daughter-in-law Susie Kleppe, along with her nine grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.

A Memorial service will be held at the Washburn-McReavy Nokomis Park Chapel on March 22, 2024, at 1838 East Minnehaha Parkway, Minneapolis, MN. Visitation at 10:00 am and Memorial Service at 12:00 noon. She will be put to rest at the Christine Lutheran Cemetery, in Christine, North Dakota.