Sixth Generation

23. Lieutenant Colonel Johann Joachim Friedrich "John" KLINGE was born on 22 October 1886 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.^9,12 He was baptized on 5 July 1887.⁹ at the home of his parents. He appeared in the census in 1900 in Wilton Township, Monroe County, WI.¹⁴ From 1908 to 1943 John was a member of the Army National Guard in Wisconsin.¹² Monroe County Heritage Book Article #30: "John began his military service in 1908, enlisting in the National Guard in Wisconsin as a private.... In 1921 John re-enlisted in the National Guard in the Field Artillery Division. Continuous service and exceptional merit in the U.S. Army and National Guard rewarded him the rank of Major and later Lieutenant Colonel. His record of marksmanship won him some forty-odd medals starting in 1908 when he was a member of the Wisconsin Team in the National Rifle Competition.... He also was the leading marksman on the International Rifle Team which won the Dewar Trophy in 1932 and 1933. Colonel Klinge spent more than thirty-four years in the service on military bases in the United States." In 1913 he was an Engineer in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.¹² Monroe County Heritage Book Article #30: "After his schooling in Tomah, he went to work for the Root and Vandervort Engineering Company. Following his employment, John entered the railway service in 1913, working as an engineer with the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and beginning a nineteen year association with this industry." He died on 2 February 1965 at the age of 78 in Montgomery, Montgomery County, AL.¹² John was Lutheran. Monroe County Heritage Book Article #30: "John was a member of St. John's Lutheran Church in Ridgeville, WI. He later moved to La Crosse, where he became a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church." He was buried in La Crosse, La Crosse County, WI.¹²

Lieutenant Colonel Johann Joachim Friedrich "John" KLINGE and Lillian L. NIEMEYER were married on 26 April 1916.^2,12 Lillian L. NIEMEYER was born in 1894 in Wisconsin.²

Lieutenant Colonel Johann Joachim Friedrich "John" KLINGE and Lillian L. NIEMEYER had the following children:

Lieutenant Colonel Johann Joachim Friedrich "John" KLINGE and Dollie KIMBROUGH were married on 15 March 1946.¹² Dollie KIMBROUGH was born in 1898.¹⁷ She died in 1980 at the age of 82.¹⁷