Ann Claire Tracy Kleman

Ann Claire Tracy Kleman

Cedar Rapids

Ann Claire Tracy Kleman, 77, died May 17, 2023, at Hallmar Care Center, Cedar Rapids, due to complications from several maladies. Teahen Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Ann Claire Tracy was born May 3, 1946, in Pasadena, Calif., the oldest of three children of Myles and Eleanor Tracy, and spent the first several years of her life in Woodland Hills, Calif. Her family moved to Chico, Calif., when she was in sixth grade.

She received a B.A. degree from St Olaf College, Northfield, Minn., in 1968. In August of that year, she married Lyle A. Kleman. She taught high school Spanish in Branford, Conn., from 1968-1972, after which she and Lyle moved to Hecla, S.D., where their two sons were born.

The family moved to the Saginaw, Mich., area in 1978, where Ann taught Spanish, English as a second language, mathematics and american history mostly in middle school at Bridgeport, Mich. She also earned her master’s degree in educational leadership from Saginaw Valley State University during her time in Michigan. Her first love was teaching middle school Spanish to eighth graders. She retired from the Bridgeport/Spaulding Community Schools in 2004. Ann never stopped being a “teacher,” even after her death, having willed her body to science.

After their retirement, Ann and Lyle moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in 2008 to be closer to their sons, Ian (Gina) in Cedar Rapids and Christopher (Emily Goldberg) in Minneapolis and their grandchildren.

Ann, a 20-plus year cancer survivor, was predeceased by her parents and a grandson, Myles Alexander Kleman, Cedar Rapids.

She is survived by her husband; sons and daughters-in-law; grandchildren, Caleb, Lewis and Katya, Cedar Rapids, and Zachary and Benjamin, Minneapolis; her brother, Thomas (Kathryn) Tracy in Maine and sister, Jane (Don) Hall in Oregon; and nephews, John (Tara) Tracy, New York, and Cyrus Hall, California.

A memorial service will be held at St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church, Cedar Rapids, later this summer.

Memorials are asked to be given to the Brain Injury Alliance of Iowa, Alzheimer’s Association, Catherine MacAuley Center or organizations or programs that educate and support young teens.

Online condolences can be left at www.teahenfuneralhome.com.