Arlene Frances Kuckuck (Kliem)

Arlene Frances (Kliem) Kuckuck went to be with her Heavenly Father on March 8, 2021. She was born to Leon and Geneva (Burkett) Kliem on January 22, 1926, in LaSalle, MI, in the same house in which her father was born, and it was so cold on the day of her birth that the goldfish bowl in their living room froze. She grew up in the Monroe, MI area and graduated from Monroe High School in 1944. Arlene worked as a secretary until she married the love of her life, Robert Kuckuck, on August 3, 1947, and they shared 72 blessed years of marriage before he passed away in March 2020. She was a homemaker until her youngest child was in elementary school, then worked as a teacher’s aide in Ida, MI, and received an AA degree from Monroe County Community College. At age 50 she graduated from LPN school at Northwest Tech in Archbold, OH, and then worked in nursing homes and did private duty nursing in the Bryan, OH area where she and Bob lived for several years. In retirement, she also was a camp nurse several summers for the United Brethren Church camp in Hillsdale, MI. She had attended camp there every summer from the time she was a child. Arlene was gifted in many areas, and whatever she did, she did well. She loved music, played the piano and organ for churches she attended, sang solos and in choirs, and participated in the Ida Band Boosters when her children were in high school. She decorated cakes for many years, including many wedding cakes for friends and family. She sewed, making many of her own dresses and dresses for her daughter and granddaughters, and crocheted, quilted, and cross-stitched, keeping her home well-decorated. She loved to read. She and Bob traveled extensively throughout the US, including Alaska and Hawaii, and enjoyed wintering in FL. She was a life member of the Gideons Auxiliary and a member of the Morocco Church, Ida, MI, and its women’s group.

Arlene is survived by her daughter, Rebecca (Curtis) Dahms, and two sons, Randy Kuckuck (Cathie Paul), and Ronald Kuckuck, seven grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, her sister, Joyce (Elmer) Gedelian, her uncle, Rev. Marion Burkett, and four nephews and their families. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, her parents, her brother, Donald Kliem, her sister, Norma Kliem, and a niece.

Due to COVID restrictions, the services and burial at LaSalle Township Cemetery will be private but a Celebration of Life for Arlene will be held at a later date.

The family requests that memorials be sent to the Gideons.