Arnold Klute, 91

Born: Sept. 24, 1921

Died: Oct. 15, 2012

 

Arnold Klute, 91, of Westminster, formerly of Estes Park, CO passed away October 15, 2012. He was born on September 24, 1921 on a farm near Three Oaks, MI to Benjamin and Hazel (Wright) Klute. He is survived by his four children, Sally Westwater of Marshalltown, IA, Marjorie Bowen of Westminster, CO, Jeffrey Klute of Rayville, MO, Karen Ghavam of Fort Collins, CO; a sister, Christine Stover of Three Oaks, MI; 8 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren. Arnold was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Helen (Miller) Klute; his brother Bernard Klute of Niles, Michigan; and two sisters – Helen Grether of Newport Beach, California and Anna Jean Klute of Buchanan, Michigan.

He graduated from high school in New Troy, MI in 1939 and entered Michigan State College, East Lansing, MI majoring in soil science. In 1942 he enlisted in the U.S. Army Signal Corp; received training in radio, electronics, and radar repair at Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL; and served in the European Theater until 1945. At Michigan State College he received a B.S. degree in 1947 and a M.S. degree in 1948. After obtaining a Ph.D. in soil physics at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY in 1941, he was employed as a Research Engineer at the Schlumberger Well Surveying Corp., Ridgefield, CT.  In 1953 he was appointed Professor of Soil Physics in the Agronomy Department at the University of IL, Champaign, IL. From 1970 until his retirement in 1987, he held a joint appointment as Soil Scientist, Agriculture Research Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and Professor of Soil Physics in the Agronomy Department at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO. His research work in soil physics has been published in over 40 articles in scientific magazines. He has an international reputation for research on water flow in soil and measurement of soil fluid properties.

Arnold married Helen Miller in Clio, Michigan on June 26, 1948. She preceded him in death on July 9, 2011.

He had many interests including woodworking, playing the guitar, square dancing, and hiking in the mountains. With his wife he hiked across the Grand Canyon when in his seventies, and hiked to the highest points of several Western states.

A Memorial Service will be at 2 p.m. on November 10, 2012 at YMCA of the Rockies, Emerald Mountain Lodge, Estes Park, Colorado.  Memorial contributions may be made to the American Society of Agronomy in care of Allnutt Funeral Service. Please view the online obituary, send condolences and sign the family guest book at www.allnutt.com.