Addie Marie Klemke
Sept. 5, 1936 – April 18, 2018
Addie Marie Klemke died on April 18, 2018.
That’s when this world lost her, the family wrote.
“For those of us that were fortunate enough to be in her path, it will leave a huge empty space,” they wrote.
Addie was born to Ezekel and Gladys Billings in Coalwood, West Virginia on Sept. 5, 1936. She had 11 brothers and sisters.
Addie married Harlon “Wally” Walrath on Oct. 24, 1963 and they had a daughter, Melody. Wally had three children from a previous marriage and Addie took on the role of step-mother. Addie and Wally divorced, but they remained friends until his death, and she remained connected to his children and grandchildren.
She worked at a number of well-known restaurants and clubs in Fairbanks where she always left her customers laughing and made many life long friendships. She continued fine-tuning her business skills.
Addie married Bob Klemke on Oct. 8, 1976, bringing his five children into her life. Together, she and Bob raised children, owned businesses and shared their love of yellow and black labs, which they had a number of. They lived in Fairbanks, Alaska for a number of years and eventually she and Bob bought the Porpoise Room in Homer, Alaska. They enjoyed their life living by Kachemak Bay, but decided to sell the Porpoise Room to retire in Oshkosh, Nebraska. Addie and Bob loved the country life, growing vegetables and playing with their dogs. Addie suffered health problems and they decided that it was time to leave Nebraska and move closer to family. They left Nebraska in 2016, moving to Pahrump, Nevada to be closer to Bob’s son Robert.
Addie was a big personality, a force of nature that had a huge heart and a huge temper to match.
She loved her family with all of that big heart and would do anything she could do to help them. She was incredibly funny, and always had great stories of her “wild and crazy” adventures.
She loved spoiling the kids, grandkids, and kids she unofficially adopted along the way. As she once said, “Once you’re married to Addie, always married to Addie.”
She was a hard worker, and a tough negotiator and didn’t take any crap off anyone. She loved her “games of chance” and she loved to win but wasn’t afraid to lose.
She was magnetic, drawing us all in with her wit and fearlessness, and once you knew her, you couldn’t forget her.
Once you had the “Addie Experience” it changed your life. Addie would not want us to grieve; she would want us to live life and roll the dice.
She is survived by her husband Bob Klemke; her daughter, Melody Macchione (Eric); her grandson, Peter Macchione; her brother, Exekiel Billings Jr.; her niece, Geraldine Vencill; and stepchildren Robert Klemke, Mike Klemke, Cindy Jones, Gaiana Daily, Angela Edwards, Ryan Walrath, Cheryl Brewster, Amy Webster and Emmett Leffel; step-grandchildren Lauren Klemke, Kayla Guthrie, Reshawna North, Zachery, Zephery, Zane, and Zeb Klemke, Amanda Fross, Richelle Shepard, Savannah and Jacob Webster, Michael and Heather Walrath, Stephanie Paulson, Tristan and Lincoln Brewster, and Ryan and Riley Leffel; and many great-grandchildren.
