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M a r g r e t K l e s s i g ` 6 4

A Late BloomerBy Lisa Vihos

Director of Alumni Relations

“Older people who have an opportunity to attend collegeand don’t should have their heads examined.” Those wordswerespoken46yearsagobyMargretKlessigandquotedinaSheboygan Press article dated May 29, 1964, just two daysbeforehergraduationfromLakelandCollege.Herbachelor’sdegreeinelementaryeducationcameamere26years(andeightchildren) after she began her education at Lakeland – thenMissionHouse–inthefallof1938. Klessigisashiningexampleoftheconceptof lifelong learning.Still anavidreader, shecelebratedher90thbirthdayonJune7,whichherfamilycelebratedinCleveland,Wis.,atSaxonHomestead Farm, the dairy farmwheresheandherhusband,Eddie,(who passed away in 2006), madetheirlifetogetherforsixdecades. The daughter of Aust r ianimmigrants,MargretKraftcametotheU.S.withherparentsin1923whenshewasnotquite three.Shegrewup inSheboygan, the middle of the threesisters, and graduated from CentralHighSchool in1938.Her fatherwasadoctorandheandhiswifeenjoyedthe company of other expatriates inthe area, key among them JosephBauer and his wife. Bauer taughtGermanandphilosophyatthecollegefrom1923intotheearly60s.HewastheonewhoencouragedKlessigtoattendMissionHouse. Shespentonlyoneyearattheschoolatthattime,butthatwas just long enough to have been selected as the first Mayqueen and tohavemadenumerous friends andbondswithherprofessors.Shealsoremembersfondlyherfirstboyfriend,D.FrankGrether 4̀2,afootballplayer.“Ididn’tknowathingaboutfootball.Ididn’tevenknowwhatpositionheplayed.ButFrankwasawonderfulpersonwholovednature.”

After1939,Klessig’slifetookanumberofunexpectedtwists.She left Sheboygan to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of nursing. There, she met Eddie andannouncedherintentiontobemarriedaftercompletionofherthird year of school. The director of the School of nursingtoldherthatifshewasgoingtomarry,shehadtoresignfromschool. Thus, she abandoned her formal schooling, married

Eddie and started a new life as thewifeofadairyfarmer. Klessig kept busy as a devotedmother,takingcareofherlargefamily.Her third child, Conrad, was bornwith Down Syndrome and she wasdesperatetofindawaytosupporthimeducationally. Shewrote letters tolocalnewspapersinsearchoffamiliesinasimilarsituation.Throughthiseffort, she met other mothers andformedagroupthatbegantoadvocatefor children with special needs,ensuring proper schooling and careforthemthroughtheschooldistrict.Klessig’sdaughter,PaulineSenno,remembershermother’sdeterminationwhenitcametoConrad’seducation,“Momhadinfinitepatienceandlove;shetreatedConnielikealltherestofus.Hehadchores.Hehadarole inthefamily.Hewasnothiddenaway.Her examplemade all ofus kids

more sensitive to other people who were in need, peoplewhoweretheunderdog.” Klessig’s life was full, but as her children grew, she feltthatsomethingwasmissing.Shewantedtogobacktoschoolto learn about how children learn. Filled with trepidation,she approached Lakeland and was referred to professor ofeducation,RolandKoyen.“Hewasinterestedinmysituation,andhegavemeenormousencouragement.”

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The college acceptedher credits fromherfirstLakelandexperience, and she returned to college in her late 30s.“Ithought,‘Mygoodnessthosekidsaresmart.’Itriednottosayapeep.Theytoleratedme.Iadmiredallmyteachersandlearned that sociology is anamazingfieldof study, and thatworldliteratureanddramawereutterlyfascinating.” Allhumilityaside,Klessigwasadedicatedandhard-workingstudent who made the Dean’s List for academic excellenceduringherfirstsemester.notunlikemanyadultswhodecidetocompleteorbegintheireducationslaterinlife,Klessig’sstoryunderscoresthefactthatwhenanolderadultreturnstocollege,the entire familymust get involved.With anunderstandingspouse,amotherwhoplayedahugeroleinholdingdownthefortandolderchildrenwhocouldhelpwiththeyoungerones,Klessigwasabletorealizeherdreamofbecomingateacher.“Ibecamewellknownastheprototypeforthewomanwhohadafamily,whowentbacktoschool,andinspiteofallthedifficultiesinvolved in this, got adegree.TheyalwayssaidIwasalatebloomer!” After graduating fromLakeland, she ea rneda master’s f rom U W-Milwaukeeandembarkedon a 19-year teachingcareer,15ofthoseyearsatPigeon River ElementarySchool in Sheboyganwork ing w it h f i f t h-graders. “Every childhas something to share,someth ing to of fer.This is what I so lovedaboutteaching,beingableto ignite the spark that ispresentineverychild.” WhileKlessigmayhavebeen a late bloomer, she was also ahead of her time. Sheintuitivelyunderstoodthetheoryofmultipleintelligenceslongbeforeitwasarticulatedin1983byHarvardeducationaltheoristHowardGardner.Backinthemid-1970s,Klessigwassuccessfullyincorporating many learning modalities into her classroom.Sheboyganbusinessowner,KevinHoffman,remembershisex-perienceinherclassroom:“Mrs.KlessigtaughtaunitonChris-topherColumbusbyhavinguswrite,directandperformourownplayabouthim.ShealsohadusdothingslikewriteletterstoWashingtontosavethewolves.”Klessig’smethodnotonly

taughtnecessarywritingskills,butalsohelpedherstudentsbemoreawareofsocialissuesandthepoliticalsystem. Klessig’sclosestco-workersatPigeonRiverintheearlyseventiesweretwoyoungmen,JohnGuseandGreggSchwarz,whoeachrememberherasaninspirationintheirearlyyearsofteaching.Guseremembers,“InMargret’sclassroom,everythingwasforacause;shealwayshadthekidswritingletterstosenators.Shewassofriendly,afree-spirit.Shewantedthebestforallpeople,andshecaredverymuchaboutnature.” Klessig quietly retired from teaching at age 60 with nofanfare.Shedidnottellherfriendsshewasleaving,butquietlyslipped away at the end of the school year in 1983. In theensuingyears,shehasenjoyedherfamily,herdogs,hergarden,goodbooksandplentyoftimeto“unscrambleherhouse,”assheput it.near the frontdoorofherCleveland farmhouse,Klessigkeepsasmallsignthatsays,“DissentProtectsDemocracy.”She describes herself as a “pacifist and progressive leftist.”

She speaks eloquentlyabout how all changecomes from the groundup, not f rom the topdown.Herlifelongpursuitof knowledge and herenthusiasm for education– whether for parents ofspecial needs children,forherstudentsatPigeonRiver, or for herself –makeherlifeanexampleofthattheoryinpractice. “I was delighted inbeing ahousewife for thefirst twenty years of myadult life,but in thenext20 years, I focused onwhat I really enjoyed: Iloved teaching. I wasn’t

onlyawifeandmother.ThekidshavesaidthatIamsuchagoodexampleforthem,andthatlearningneverstops.Youjustkeeponlearning.” Tothisday,Klessigisproudofwhatsheaccomplishedandhow her alma mater has evolved. “Whenever I see anythingaboutLakelandinthenewspaper,I’mveryproudtoseehowtheschoolhasexpanded,notonlynationally,butinternationally.” The life and educational journey of Margret Klessigreminds us that it is never too late to learn something new;itisnevertoolatetoblossom.3

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