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Claude Edmund Schrempp, 93, formerly of Pierce
Claude Edmund Schrempp of Lewiston passed away Thursday, July 25, 2013, at Royal Plaza retirement center of complications of renal failure. He was born Sept. 3, 1919, in St. Helena, NE., and was the second boy (of 10 boys) born to Otto and Theresa Schrempp. The day after his high school graduation in Eagle Butte, SD, he came to Clarkston, WA with his older brother to find work. He worked at a dairy, picked fruit and worked for a concrete builder. (A concrete block building that he helped build still stands on Snake River Ave. near Primeland). In June 1941, he joined the U.S. Army and served as a supply clerk in the Northern France and Central European campaigns and was an expert M1 sharpshooter.
After his military discharge in December 1945, he began working for Montgomery Ward in Lewiston and later Palo Alto, CA. Early in 1950, his cousin, Ray Schneider, flew him back to Clarkston for a family visit and a blind date with Jeanette Dinnison. They married in September 1950. They moved back to Richland, WA, where he worked at Hanford as a fireman. They spent a short time in Coulee City, WA, and then moved to Spokane, WA where he was employed at Kaiser Aluminum as a warehouseman. In 1956, they moved to Pierce and owned and operated the Pierce Market. They had two children, Claudia Jean and Robert Dennis. After their divorce in 1967, he continued to operate the grocery store until 1969, when it sold. He worked at Timberline High School as the night janitor for a year before purchasing another grocery store in Lapwai in 1970.
In 1976, he and his brothers went back to Eagle Butte to an all-school reunion. He reacquainted with his schoolmate, Marian Brewer Wood, who lived a few hundred yards down the road from him growing up. They corresponded for a year when, in 1977, he sold his grocery store, married Marian and moved to her home in Albuquerque, NM. They remained there until her retirement in 1981 and then moved back to Lewiston to be closer to family. They bought several campers and recreational vehicles and traveled throughout the U.S. with Good Sam and Veterans of Foreign Wars friends. They even went to Barrow, AK.
He enjoyed having his family and friends near and was always a kidder and loved to interact socially. In 1989, he had a 70th birthday party in Creston, British Columbia, at a family reunion. In 1999, he had an 80th birthday party and in 2009 he had his 90th party with many family members and friends attending a barbecue and to have a few beers. (It's a German Schrempp thing ... )
He was a lifetime member of the Elks and Knights of Columbus. He was a lifetime member of VFW Post No. 10043 and served as unit commander in 1985. Until last week, he endured five years of dialysis treatments. At 93, he was just tired and wanted to go home.
He is survived by his wife, Marian; his children, Claudia Schrempp Decker and Robert (Anne) Schrempp; four grandchildren, Aaron (Keith) Ranisate, Robin (Matt) Lynch, Sarah (Jeff) Schmaltz, Dan (Aubre) Schrempp; five great-grandchildren, Trey and Becca Schmaltz, Kaleigh and Lucie Ranisate and James Lynch; brothers, Jerome (Jeanne) Schrempp, Fulgence (Nancy) Schrempp, Melvin (Georgia) Schrempp and many nieces and nephews. His sixth great-grandchild, Abigal Grace Schrempp, is due on his birthday, Sept. 3.
A prayer vigil with remembrances from family and friends will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at St. James Catholic Church at 1519 Ripon Ave., Lewiston.
The funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Friday at St. James Catholic Church.
Memorials can be made to Hospice, Lewiston Meals on Wheels, All Saints Catholic Church Building Fund or a charity of one's choice.
Transcribed by Michal Berreth-Beck