Kenneth Klingbeil

COLONIE - Kenneth Klingbeil, 82, passed away on Sunday, November 18, 2018 at The Hospice Inn at St. Peter's Hospital, surrounded by his loving family.

Ken was born on May 25, 1936 in Amsterdam, NY and was raised and schooled in Glens Falls, NY. He was employed for 37 ½ years by the state of NY in various departments; retiring in 1992 from the Department of Taxation & Finance as a Supervisor of EDP. He was active in many organizations including Boy Scouts, Little League and Babe Ruth League.

Ken was a Model Railroad enthusiast and served multiple times as the Editor of The Operator's Consist the local TTOS (Toy Train Operating Society) newsletter. He wrote many articles for that publication some of which were published in 'The Bulletin' the National TTOS publication. He was a home computer user and spent many hours on the World Wide Web ferreting out information for his model train and other interests.

His proudest accomplishment besides his family came in 1991 when he overcame his 30+ years Fear of Flying by enrolling in a national airlines course geared to that particular fear. After graduation from that course he logged over 100,000 miles in the air. Most of that mileage was on board Jets, but some were done in smaller aircraft including a flight over the Grand Canyon. In 1998 a gift from his son Al and wife Julie saw him actually take the controls of a small Cessna for a period of about 5 minutes and he fulfilled a life long ambition to actually Fly A Plane.

Ken loved to travel with his wife and found in later years that he especially enjoyed Cruises to exotic locales'. He also enjoyed traveling to many of the country's National Parks and seeing landmarks he had studied about as a youngster.

He was formerly a member of the United States Army Reserve, serving in units in Albany and Schenectady. He was instrumental in organizing a group of former reservists for a quarterly luncheon meeting.

Kenneth was predeceased by his parents, Fred O. Klingbeil and Marion (Dwyer) Klingbeil; his wife of 56 years, L. Joan (Platel) Klingbeil and his son Martin Kenneth Klingbeil. He was the father of Kristina, Albert (Julie), John (Donna) and Kathleen Shafer (Todd) and grandfather of Martin, Emily and Erin Klingbeil, Samuel Klingbeil, Jeremy and Molly Shafer and Rebecca, Patrick and Eileen Kennedy.

Calling hours will be held on Tuesday, November 27, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at New Comer Cremations & Funerals, 343 New Karner Road, Colonie. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 9:00 a.m. Wednesday, November 28, at St. Clare's Church in Colonie. Interment will follow at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Rensselaer.

Those who wish can make a contribution in Ken's memory to the Martin K. Klingbeil Scholarship Fund c/o South Colonie Central School District, 100 Loralee Drive, Albany, N.Y. 12205.

To leave a special message for the family online, visit NewComerAlbany.com