Obituary of Stephen Klauck
Stephen Klauck, a resident of Poughkeepsie, passed away peacefully on September 18, 2024, after a courageous battle against cancer. He was 64 years old.
Born on March 28, 1960, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Steve was the beloved son of Ken and Marion Klauck. After a short time in New Hampshire, the family moved to New York when Steve was five. He lived in the Poughkeepsie area for the rest of his life.
After graduating from high school Steve served four years in the Navy and went on to serve in the Navy Reserve until retirement in 2004. Steve spent his career as a professional firefighter, working a total of 30 years for the New Hackensack and Arlington Fire Districts.
More than anything, Steve loved the outdoors and working with his hands. Steve volunteered with various organizations for nearly 40 years, including the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, Adirondack Mountain Club (ADK), and Appalachian Mountain Club, maintaining hiking trails and building bridges and boardwalks in New York and beyond. He met his beloved wife Carol on a volunteer trail crew in Acadia National Park in Maine in 2006. They married in the park in 2011, and together continued to maintain the 2-mile section of the Appalachian Trail in Dutchess County that Steve had maintained since 1989.
In 2012, Steve received the Paul Leikin Extra Mile Award from the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference, having dedicated more than 350 hours of work to building a 1,600-foot boardwalk spanning the Great Swamp on the Appalachian Trail in Pawling, New York. The boardwalk features three seating areas designed and constructed by Steve, including Adirondack chairs, benches, and an integrated seating area overlooking the river.
Steve was also an avid paddler. In the Placid Boatworks canoe that he helped to build, Steve paddled many lakes, rivers, ponds and even the ocean from the Adirondacks, to Maine, the Hudson Valley, the Outer Banks, and beyond. Always with a camera, and for many adventures with Carol by his side, Steve captured memories that will be cherished forever.
Among the greatest memories of Steve’s life are those he made as a volunteer for ADK at the Adirondack Loj in Lake Placid, New York. Over many years, Steve participated in countless volunteer work weekends as well as larger construction projects with a core group dubbed the “Construction Bugs” (or CBs, for short). He built cabins, bathrooms and yurts; laid tile, installed siding and sometimes, simply walked quietly and contemplated. But above all, he made lifelong friends with whom he enjoyed endless jokes and side-splitting laughter amidst the “hard work and sore muscles.”
Steve is survived by his wife Carol; parents Ken and Marion Klauck of Queensbury, New York; sister Micka and brother-in-law Pete Lewke of Columbus, Wisconsin; brother Jim and sister-in-law Heather Klauck of La Grange, Kentucky; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. Steve was predeceased by his sister Theresa Klauck.
A memorial will take place in the Adirondacks in the spring, per Steve’s wishes. In lieu of flowers, donations in remembrance of Steve may be made to ADK or the New-York New-Jersey Trail Conference.
