Cletus J. “Clete” Schmelzle, 82, of rural Seneca, Kansas, died Wednesday, May 30, 2001, at the Nemaha Valley Community Hospital in Seneca. He had suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on May 24 and was hospitalized in Topeka before returning to the hospital in Seneca.

He was born May 31, 1918, on a farm in Union Township, Pottawatomie County, southeast of Westmoreland, Kansas, the son of Joseph E. and Agnes Mary Baumchen Schmelzle. He attended Broderick Grade School near Westmoreland and graduated from the Flush High School in Flush, Kansas. The Schmelzle family moved to Kelly, Kansas in 1935. Clete and his brothers Clem and Gilbert purchased the Williams cattle farm southeast of Seneca in 1940. In 1946 Clete and Clem bought out Gilbert and expanded the operation. Their dairy was among the top ten producers of cream for the Sabetha Co-op Creamery. They sold out the dairy in 1950 and went in the cattle business until July of 1985.

In 1969 they started LCC Eggs, a large modern egg-producing business which was continued by the family after Cletus retired on December 31, 1996. He continued his active interest in farming by helping his sons.

On October 13, 1958, Clete married Lorestine Steinmetz at St. Joseph’s Church in Flush. She survives of the home.

Clete was a member of Sts. Peter & Paul Church and the St. Joseph Society at the church in Seneca; the Knights of Columbus #1769 for over 50 years, also in Seneca; and the State Line Egg Producers, a group of fellow egg producers with regular meetings in Beatrice, Nebraska.

Survivors besides his wife Lorestine are three sons, Michael, Douglas, and Martin Schmelzle, all of Seneca; a daughter, Amy Miles of Claremore, Oklahoma; two brothers, Eugene and Gilbert Schmelzle, both of Seneca; three sisters, Loretta Umscheid of Manhattan, Kansas, Bernadette Burns of Wichita, and Mary Cooper of Tampa, Florida; and eight grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by two brothers, Clement and Herman Schmelzle; and three sisters, Sr. M. Ositha Schmelzle, OSB, Sr. M. Christine Schmelzle, OSB and Sr. Suzanne Schmelzle, OSB.

Mass of Christian burial will be 10:30 AM Saturday at Sts. Peter & Paul Church in Seneca. Burial will be in the church cemetery. A rosary will be prayed at 7 PM Thursday, with a vigil prayer service at 7 PM Friday, at Lauer Funeral Home in Seneca.

Memorials may be given for the Cletus Schmelzle Fund to be designated later for assistance to local community organizations.