Vera "Beep" Klister

December 16, 1952 lived life January 19, 2008

I have been asked to write a short note about Vera “Beep” Klister. I am proud to say that Beep was not only my sister-in-law, but also a good friend. If you knew Beep, you think of her sense of humor and great wit. It was always an “adventure” spending time with her because she would come up with ideas on the spur of the moment. Beep was a nurturing, caring person and she made life better for those who knew her.

One of her passions was baking bread – delicious artisan breads. She enjoyed putting different flours, spices, fruits, (whatever she thought would work) together to create something unique. “Come over and sample this new bread I baked today” was a call I looked forward to getting. I think Beep could feed a large group from “five loaves of bread and two fish”. She didn’t just give you food to eat however; she also gave you food for thought.

I had the privilege of being on the mission trips when Beep went to Kentucky and Ayote, Nicaragua. In Ayote she worked with the local cooks preparing our food. Beep did not speak any Spanish and the cooks didn’t speak English – but then, who needs to understand words when hands and heart speak very well. Baking bread in a wood fired oven was a new experience for her and the cooks in Ayote had never made yeast bread – they taught each other new skills and judging by the laughter coming from the kitchen, they also had a good time. Beep (and her daughter, Leah) left a definite mark in Ayote. By the end of our trip the women and girls sparkled with glitter. Beep loved color and sparkle - frequently wearing glitter on her face sharing it freely with others.

Those who were on the Kentucky trip ate very well and tasted her delicious breads. She also gathered women from the outlying area around her to talk and bake bread together. Feeding the body and soul of those around her was much of what Beep Klister was all about. Plum Hill Art & Café (her dream) seeks to continue that legacy. Check out www.plumhill.biz

Beep was a special, well-loved person and I miss her.

Mary Van Zeeland

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Arnie Coonen

While I was in Ayote during my August of 2004 trip Padre Glenn and I started talking about the new Institute of San Francisco and the various type of crops that he was hoping to teach the natives to grow. We talked about the soil, the amount of rain, compost material and other related topics. Of course my background is “not” in farming so I told Padre that I would see what I could do when I returned home.

After returning home and having to drive by Arnie Coonen’s old farm, existing feed mill and corn drying operation on many occasions I thought (with the Holy Spirit’s guidance) why not stop and talk to Arnie about the Nicaragua crop growing problems. On my first visit with Arnie we discussed at length corn growing and Arnie promised me he would get various types of corn seed from his suppliers that I could ship to Nicaragua. At the same time after learning a little about the Fox Valley Mission Group and what we where doing in Ayote and other parts of Nicaragua Arnie expressed an interest in maybe going along sometime. True to his word it wasn’t long after our first visit that Arnie called and said he had the corn seed and that I could pick it up. When I went to pick up the seed Arnie said that he had decided to go on our next trip if he could clear his schedule and get his shots, passport, etc., taken care of before our scheduled January of 2005 trip. Of course all that did happen so Arnie was with our group that went to Ayote in January of 2005. Like most of the rest of us once he was there with the people he was hooked.

During that trip one of the projects that Padre Glenn wanted to do was to build covered raised bed gardens for tomatoes at the new Institute and Arnie headed up that project. He also started looking into the soil conditions and what could be done to improve on that. Because of Arnie’s ground work that was started in 2005 they are now teaching the people in many of the surrounding eighty bush communities how to grow various crops such as corn, beans, tomatoes, carrots etc...

That is just a small part of who Arnie was. In that first year during the mission trip he had really bad knees yet despite this handicap he was always one of the first to start work in the morning and one of the last to quit in the evening. At the end of some very long days he could be seen hobbling down to the river with the rest of us to take a bath. One thing I learned about Arnie, he always had to be working and because of his farming background there wasn’t much he couldn’t do. It didn’t matter if he was working with the soil, wiring, welding, repairing the generator, fixing Padres old truck Arnie could do it all. Because of his great outgoing personality the local people fell in love with Arnie. They where amassed that someone his age and physical condition could do so much.

After getting his knees replaced after our 2005 mission trip Arnie was ready for the 2006 trip to Ayote. During that trip Arnie continued to use all his talents where ever they where needed and especially his welding talents in building the new outdoor stage type building. That building along with a memorial from his family was dedicated in his memory on our most recent mission trip to Ayote, this past January.

During the summer of 2006 Arnie was diagnosed with cancer and much to his disappointment he was not able to go back to Ayote in 2007. I cannot begin to tell you how badly all the people in Ayote felt because Arnie was sick and was not part of the mission trip. To this day I don’t know if it was his great personality or because of all the candy he used to hand out after Mass every evening. To all the young kids he was known as the “candy man”. Arnie did pass away in 2007 without getting back to Ayote but believe me his memory lives on because of the memorial that was created by his family because they knew how much Arnie loved Padre Glenn and the people of Ayote, Nicaragua.

By: Gary Wolf and the Fox Valley Mission Group