Klusmeyer, Analee Jane January 13,1919 - March 12, 2013
A long-time Southern California resident and Fullerton matriarch has died. Analee Klusmeyer was 94 when she passed away last week surrounded by the love and prayers of her family. Analee was born to Ethel and George Clark in Des Moines, Iowa in 1919 but soon relocated to Southern California when she was two. As a child, she and her sister Betty were passengers in a car accident that nearly crippled Analee and forever debilitated her sister. After spending several months in General Hospital in Los Angeles, her mother forced Analee to take dance lessons, convinced that the movement would put her on a road to recovery leaving her wheel chair in the rafters. That "can-do" attitude and the power of prayer never left Analee. It soon had her out of the hospital, dancing with a troupe of girls, and back in public school, where she was able to graduate from Fremont High in 1937. She never saw a doctor again, and her new-found energy soon had her running circles around her friends. Just after graduation, on a blind date at a dance in Long Beach, she met Frank Klusmeyer, the love of her life, and the only man she ever loved. Frank and Analee soon married and welcomed daughters, Sharon and Marlene, during a time when jobs were scarce and cash was hard to come by. But the fledging couple persevered in post-war Southern California as Frank worked as a butcher by day, while Analee later pushed her legs even further, delivering missives, via bicycle, for Northrop, at night. In 1956 the family moved to Fullerton where Frank and Analee opened Clark & Company Realty in an office complex they built on Commonwealth Ave., which still stands today. Analee's energy didn't stop there. With Frank, she helped to expand the First Baptist Church of Fullerton, rebuild Lion's Field, revamp Hillcrest Park, taught Chapel on Wheels, and refurbish various Florence Crittendon Homes throughout Fullerton. In the midst of all this, she and Frank enjoyed traveling throughout the world. But her love of children seemed to guide Analee. By now, she had four grandchildren upon whom she doted and with whom she spent endless hours attending their events and activities. She and Frank babysat their grandkids for weeks at a time whenever called upon and even extended this favor to other family friends in Fullerton, who they loved as their own. After Frank passed away in 1998, Analee continued her philanthropy, working with the Assistance League of Fullerton to assure that their "Bargain Box" was "top-drawer," and that Fulierton's "Taste of the Town" was second to none. Her love of teaching Sunday school never waned, but she later moved from the classroom to the nursery where she displayed her true gift of doting on infants and babies. There, babies would gaze into her eyes as she held and talked to them; rocking countless wailing infants into a blissful slumber-all, so their parents could enjoy a sermon in peace. Analee believed strongly in the power of prayer, lived her life working to help others and even had others in her heart as she passed. Those who knew her, loved her, and those
she barely met, felt a kinship and respect. Long ago, when Frank was once asked to share his secret to his successful marriage to Analee, he answered matter-of-factly, "there's no secret; I worship the ground she walks on." And, truth be told, we all did, too... Analee Clark Klusmeyer is survived by her daughters Sharon Ricks (Cecil); Marlene Pocinich (Darnell); grandchildren, Greg Ricks and Kathy Ricks Copeland (Mark); Michelle Pocinich Murray (John) and Mark Pocinich (Shelly), great-grandchildren, Jared, Tyler, Casey, and Courtney Copeland, Gabrielle and Charlotte Murray, and Ryan and Lauren Pocinich and all the other children who Analee rocked to sleep. Memorial service will be held on Friday, March 22,11:00 a.m. - Wilshire Avenue Community Church, 212 Wilshire Avenue, Fullerton, CA 92831.
