Kim Lesmeister Obituary, Death – Kim Lesmeister has passed away. Kim Lesmeister was raised in rural Morris Township, Stevens County, Minnesota, by Zeno and Ida (Jost) Lesmeister. He attended St. Mary’s until the seventh grade, when he began helping his brother Leonard and Rudy Raths on the farm. He worked at Matt Lesmeister’s machining shop before opening Kim’s Machine Shop west of Morris in 1961. He was the company’s sole owner until 1980, when he sold it to his sons, Ken and Jerry. Until 1990, he ran Jiffy Crane Service and Construction. He worked for Brothers’ Industries until he retired in 1998.
Kim has been a Morris Fire Department volunteer for over 25 years (1962-87). He had been a member of the Morris Eagles and the 9-F Sportsman’s Club his entire life. On September 22, 1952, he married Laverna Rinkenberger at Assumption Parish in Morris. Ken (Diane), Jerry (Jane), Lois (Ace) Sperr, Joyce Ehalt, all of Morris, Vern (Lee) of Bloomington, MN, and Al (Patti) of Cyrus are the children of this union. Kim was a self-taught mechanical engineer and inventor. He was a skilled ironsmith with a natural ability to turn scrap steel into a functional machine. He liked fishing, golfing, gardening, canning, and helping out on the Sperr farm.
Troy, Tiffany, Kim, Nic, Matt, Kristin, Adam, Sarah, Rachel, Howard, Marilyn, Emily, Molly, Adrienne, Anthony, Michael, Tyler, Kandice, and Cody are his children, grandchildren, and special friend Carol VanderWeyst, as well as six great-grandchildren: Troy, Tiffany, Kim, Nic, Matt, Kristin, Adam, Sarah, Rachel, Howard, Marilyn, Emily, Molly, Adrienne, Anthony, Michael, Tyler, Kandice, Kim’s siblings Helen Staples, Joan Hanrahan, Irene (Ben) Sauter, Dorothy Ascheman, and Deloris (Bob) Buhl, as well as her brother Gene, survive her (Katie). Jeanne, Jackie, and Elsie DeVaan, Herb DeVaan’s brother-in-law, and his three sisters-in-law
Kim was predeceased by his parents, brothers Leonard (Florence), Roy (Alice), William, Richard, and Bernard Osterman, sisters Valeria Osterman and Loretta DeVaan, and brothers-in-law Wally Staples, Dick Hanrahan, and Fritz Osterman, as well as Jeanne Lesmeister, his daughter-in-law. Troy Lesmeister, Nicholas Lesmeister, Matthew Lesmeister, Adam Lesmeister, Michael Lesmeister, Tyler Lesmeister, Howard Sperr, and Anthony Gardner will serve as pallbearers.