Clement Seibert

Clement Jerome Seibert, devoted husband, loving father, grandfather and great grandfather passed away Friday, February 16 2024. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Betty Seibert (Sokeland), his three children Pam Ingvalson, David Seibert (Yvette) and Scott Seibert (Becky Jasper), seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Clem was born in Poseyville, Indiana into a family with 8 other siblings. They lived in a small shotgun house and went to a one room school house. They sometimes didn't have enough to eat, but they had each other and they had sports.

Clem wasn't a man of great stature, his tallest measurement was 5'7", but he had a passion for victory and didn't like losing at anything. He once, while playing catcher for his school baseball team, caught a fastball barehanded to throw out the runner attempting to steal third base. He broke his hand with that catch, but the runner was thrown out. His teams won a county title at least twice while he was on the team.

He served in the Army from 1959-1962 mostly in Fairbanks, Alaska. He loved his time in the Army where he was a Sergeant E5. He talked about all the sports he played while in Alaska. He was on at least 3 different community baseball teams where they competed against some professional players as well as basketball in the winter, but nothing would keep him away from playing army in the field. He loved going on exercise, I think mostly because his side always won. Twice his superiors recommended he apply to West Point, but was denied entry because he would have been too old when he graduated.

After the Army, he continued to play baseball until he drove a ball into the head of a pitcher. The pitcher was knocked out cold and Clem went to the hospital with him and stayed there until he woke up. It was the last time he played baseball. It was after the Army at the Emge Meat Packing plant where he met his future wife, Betty. They courted for a short time before marrying in 1963.

They started a family right away. Pamela Sue was born in November 1963, David Alan was born in July 1965 and Scott Raymond was born in September 1968. They grew up in Evansville, Indiana where Clem had started working as a computer programmer for Mead Johnson. Being highly intelligent, Clem didn't have a college degree right away, but while working he attended classes at Indiana State University of Evansville (ISUE) and graduated in 1974. He talked about rarely attending class because he could have taught the classes better than the professors.

The family moved to Rochester, MN in 1981 where he took a job as computer operator for Methodist hospital. He wasn't very active in sports himself at this time, but he was active in his kid's activities and went to all the events that he could. He also did this for his grandkids as much as possible.

In 1997 he started running. He lost over 30 pounds and decided to run marathons. He ran 8 marathons in this period of his life and many smaller runs in between. He liked to move.

He was very proud to live in Rochester with the greatest medical center in the world. Through this organization he participated in many significant medical studies and proudly donated over 40 gallons of blood in his life, earning many shirts and pins along the way.

He and Betty moved several times around Rochester and also lived in Hammond and Oronoco, MN before finally moving to Stewartville in 2020. He had developed type 2 diabetes years earlier (he did like his ice cream) and as a result neuropathy ensued which was incredibly painful and hard to live with. Stewartville was where he ended up taking his last breaths.

His final days were painful. He was put on home hospice in October 2023. He was often in pain and had a hard time sleeping, but we continued to visit and celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with him. On Feb 15th he fell out of bed and hurt his back. Later that day he fell asleep and never woke up. He died Friday evening about 7:08PM with his wife, daughter, son and oldest granddaughter present.

There will be a celebration of life at the American Legion in Stewartville on Sunday February 25 from 12:30-4. His body is cremated and will be interned at the Fort Snelling Cemetery later this spring (TBD).

Ranfranz and Vine Funeral Home is honored to be serving the Seibert family. To share a special memory or condolence, please visit www.ranfranzandvinefh.com