Obituary of Rainer W. Klessen

Rainer W. Klessen, born on Oct. 16, 1942 in Dresden, Germany, passed away peacefully at home on Sept. 1, 2021 after a battle with cancer and Parkinson’s.

He will be very missed by his beloved family, his wife, Carol, children, Amy, Julie, Martha and Karl, and five grandchildren, Nike, Eames, Henry, Violet and Molly, and his companion and dog, Lucy. 

His mother, Erna Klessen, and younger brother, Alex, who live in Germany, survive him.

The family will remember and celebrate his life in a small, private circle.

Rainer worked for the German company Carl Zeiss for over 25 years.  Retirement was not for Rainer, so he later started his own small business.

He loved to take long walks, rain or shine, worked hard in his gardens, enjoyed good wine and food, and always looked forward to vacationing with the family.  If Rainer was not busy with work, you could find him on the living room couch reading the NY Times with his antique collection surrounding him.

Memorial donations may be made to Parkinson’s disease research at:

https://nyulangone.org/give/fundraise/klessen