Kenneth Henry Klostermeyer, age 88 years, 8 months, completed his earthly journey on January 28, 2026. Born in Omaha, NE on May 22, 1937, Ken moved with his parents, Henry and Esther (Chapin) Klosermeyer and older brother to Grand Island, NE at the age of two. He graduated from Grand Island High School in 1955, where he was Student Manager of the basketball team, Student Director for the Senior Class Play and a member of the National Honor Society.
As a youth, Ken was DeMolay Master Councilor, a Boy Scout and Explorer Scout, earning the rank of Eagle Scout. He served on camp staff and was a member of the Order of the Arrow camping honorary. His service to Scouting continued into adulthood as a member of Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity in college and as an Assistant Scoutmaster. He accompanied members of Salina’s BSA Troop 1, including his son Bryan, as an adult sponsor on trips to Philmont Scout Ranch and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.
Ken attended the University of Nebraska from 1955-57. In the summer of 1957, Ken worked with a construction crew replacing the railroad trestle over the Great Salt Lake with dirt fill. He then continued to live and work in Lincoln, NE, as a display artist for Gold’s Department Store, until joining the U.S. Army, December 1, 1960. He served as an Operations and Training Clerk at Ft. Belvoir, VA, in the 8th Engineering (Construction) Battalion. During his duty there, he also did art work for the Service Club. Ken completed his active duty on November 30, 1962, followed by reserve status and discharge on October 31, 1966.
Ken moved back to Grand Island and worked as a graphic artist/designer for Snyder Sign Co, Chronolux and Hornaday Manufacturing Co, illustrating their “Handloaders Handbook.”. During this time, he was heavily involved with the Grand Island Little Theatre; there he met Nancy Kay Johnson, and, after three years of an unconventional “courtship”, the two were married August 30, 1969.
Attendance of a workshop with Theatre Design Consultant James Hull Miller led to his January 1969 employment as a Designer/Draftsman with the Shaver Partnership Architects in Salina, KS. Among projects there, Ken did interior color coordination for Brookdale Community College in New Jersey and Washington DC’s Capital Center. An evening ceramics class at Bethany College led to a 1974 B.A. in Studio Art, Summa Cum Laude, followed by study at Marymount College from 1974-1976 to attain Teacher Certification. In 1984, Ken received a B.S. in Computer Science from Kansas Wesleyan University.
A variety of art, theater and education-related activities filled Ken’s life. He relished his roles as set designer/builder at Grand Island Little Theatre, Stuhr Museum, Shreveport LA Opera Company, Marymount College Sunflower Summer Theater, and Salina Community Theatre. He served as Artist in Residence, teaching pottery at McPherson High School, and as a substitute teacher and resource artist for USD 305, receiving the top “Special Programming in the Arts for Kansas” (SPARK) award from the Kansas Arts Commission for “Integration of Visual Arts into Elementary School Curricula” at the 1978 Governor’s Conference on Business and the Arts. His cameo role in a Central High School production of “Damn Yankees” led to an honorary membership in Central High School’s International Thespians Society Troupe 639. As a member, and President, of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 464, Ken helped set the stage and provide technical support for dozens of traveling artists who performd in Salina and other Kansas venues.
Ken’s varied instructional roles included teaching pottery, photography, printmaking, studio lighting, technical theatre, and/or computer basics and programming at Bethany College, Marymount College, Kansas College of Technology, Kansas Wesleyan University, Computerland and Brown Mackie College, where he served as Chair of the Data Processing Department. In addition to the college courses, Ken taught drawing at a Marymount College Elderhostel session, pottery through Marymount’s continuing education program and the YWCA, and pottery, photography and screen printing at Salina Parks and Recreation’s “Imagination Place” Community Art Center, which he also served as Director. A combination of art and computer skills were utilized as a Support Technician for John Page and Associates and Graphic Artist for PowerAd Company before retirement.
Ken shared his art through exhibits at Grand Island’s Stuhr Museum, Marymount College, the Birger Sandzen Gallery, Bethany College, Kansas Artist and Craftsman Association State Conferences in Wichita, Topeka and Hays, the Smoky Hill River Festival and the Bluestem Gallery. Commissions included creation of a 4’ by 8’ ceramic wall mural. Following attendance of a workshop by visiting artist Sachio Yamashita in 1981, Ken painted an 8 x 30 foot mural featuring tennis rackets on an Oakdale Park court backstop. He helped create the sculpture of “Butch” for the Warner Brothers Movie, “Up the Academy” which was filmed in Salina in 1979. Other means of sharing his knowledge and skills included service as a juror of high school and college art shows, renderings of the Prescott House for a KSAL Lucky Day calendar feature and the Harvard NE Methodist church for a centennial plate, presentations at meetings of the Kansas Art Education Association, Christian Business and Professional Women, First Christian Church and Salvation Army, as well as creation of hand-lettered signs, documents – and a newspaper headline.
As a founding member of the Community Access Television Board of Directors, Ken helped shape a long-serving community resource. He also served terms on the Salina Community Theatre Board of Directors and the Salina Arts and Humanities Commission.
Ken was an active member of Rolling Hills Congregational United Church of Christ, during its existence, and Sunrise Presbyterian Church.
Ken was preceded in death by his parents, brother and sister-in-law, William C and Shirley (Anderson) Klostermeyer, and Daughter-in-Law, Audrea Gail (Grimes) Klostermeyer. He is survived by his wife, Nancy, sons Bryan and Aaron (Rosalie Bae), grandsons, Garrett and Wyatt Klostermeyer, brother Tom (Margaret) Klostermeyer, sister Joyce (Darrell) Quaring and an extended family of nieces, nephews and cousins. The family appreciates the special care provided to Ken by the staff of Legacy at Salina.
A Celebration of Ken’s Life will be held at 11:00 a.m., Monday, March 16, 2026, at Sunrise Presbyterian Church.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be designated to Sunrise Presbyterian Church or Theatre Salina.