Submitted by: Dan Rich

Kenneth C. Kuespert,

Feb. 23, 1925 -- Dec. 5, 2003

South Bend Tribune 12/7/2003      

Kenneth Clement "Clem" Kuespert, 78, of Aberdeen Drive, South Bend, Ind., passed away peacefully at home after a lengthy, courageous battle with cancer.

Clem was born on Feb. 23, 1925, in South Bend, to the late Wolfgang A. and Gladys I. (Darling) Kuespert.

He was retired from the Elkhart Community School Corporation where he was chief engineer at WNIT-TV. He had previously been employed by South Bend Community Schools, the Bendix Corporation, Mishawaka, Ind., and WSBT-TV. As a retiree, he enjoyed substitute teaching, traveling in the United States and in Germany, where he met members of the extended Kuespert family, and serving as a consultant to area broadcast stations. A graduate of John Adams High School, Clem was a World War II Navy veteran. He served in the Navy from 1943 to 1946, and won five battle stars. While serving on the destroyer Halsey Powell, he was in seven combat operations and survived a kamikaze attack. Clem received a bachelor of science in electronic engineering from Valparaiso Technical Institute and a master of science in education from Indiana University at South Bend.

He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Elfrieda (Petzke); a daughter, Jill K. Anderson (Bruce) of Whitefish Bay, Wis.; a son, Kenneth A. Kuespert (Pam); and a granddaughter, Abby Marie Kuespert, all of Niles, Mich. He is further survived by a brother, Wilfred Arthur Kuespert of Fort Myers, Fla.; and by brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, and many nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a brother, Stanley Darling Kuespert; and by sisters, Norva Jean Kuespert and Doris Kuespert Amsler.

Clem was an active member of Emmaus Evangelical Lutheran Church for over 50 years. He held a number of churches offices over the years and was currently serving as president of the congregation. Clem was a broadcasting pioneer and was instrumental in the engineering of several broadcast stations in the South Bend area. He was involved with signing six different TV stations on the air (WSBT-TV on Channel 34 and later Channel 22, WNIT-TV on Channel 34, WBND on Channel 57, WB on Channel 69, and ABC on Channel 12) in the South Bend area. He was a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers of South Bend, and the Michiana Amateur Radio Club. He was also an active member of the South Bend Press Club, beginning in 1951. He was a longtime member of the IEEE, and a past member of the TV advisory board of the Elkhart Area Career Center. He was a Republican precinct committeeman, a member of the Indiana Retired Teachers Association, and a past member of the Centre Township Advisory Board.

Clem had an amazing sense of humor and always had a twinkle in his eye. He was cheerful, outgoing, and had a compassionate heart, positive, joyful attitude, and an insatiable appetite for knowledge. He never stopped learning and growing.

Friends may call from 4 to 8 p.m. today in the Palmer Funeral Home--Guisinger Chapel, 3718 S. Michigan St., South Bend, and one hour prior to the service in the church. Funeral services will be Monday, Dec. 8, at 11 a.m. in Emmaus Evangelical Lutheran Church, 929 E. Milton St., South Bend, IN 46613, Pastor R.D. Stuckwisch Jr. officiating.

Interment will follow at Riverview Cemetery.