There are three deeply held beliefs that my mother, Lil Klump, taught me and that will stay with me the rest of my life. First, she was an incredibly resilient individual who could overcome any obstacle, especially any setback which might impact her family. Second, she was passionate about saving the environment and protecting God’s planet. Finally, she was spiritually minded and displayed a deeply held belief that Jesus would care for her and her family, so she prayed for all of her family members constantly, every single day.
Resilience
My mom’s resilience stemmed from her childhood, as she was born into a low-income family in Jefferson City, MO. Her parents were married in 1929 and she was born in the middle of the Great Depression, four years later in 1933. Her father had health problems and could only work as a gas station attendant, so they struggled to make ends meet during those hard times. The bank foreclosed on their home after her father lost his job and they moved to her grandmother’s farm, staying there through the start of WWII. After she graduated from high school, her parents still needed financial support, and rather than going to college, she worked and sent her savings to her family for several years rather than paying for her own educational aspirations.
Later, she attended St. Louis University part time while working nights, until the Jesuit dean of the school rescinded her admission due to her extreme hours, as he was concerned about her intense workload and the potential impact on her health. While she had several men who proposed to her in her 20’s (as she was quite attractive and a part-time model), she remained focused on her education and eventually followed her passion to become a grade school teacher, obtaining her college certificate from the University of Missouri at the age of 34, a long and arduous 15-year journey which most students today would not appreciate. She told me that obtaining a college degree was what God wanted for her and she was absolutely committed to following His direction rather than taking the easy road.
She achieved her dream of teaching by accepting a job at St. Peter’s Grade School in 1970 and was convinced that she would remain single and fulfill her role as a teacher, until she met my father in 1972. Even though she was 8 years older than my dad, as he was 32 and she was 40, they were married the next year. Talk about robbing the cradle! Two years later she followed God’s calling to become a mother as my sister was born.
My father, in contrast to mom’s focus on education, had only obtained his high school degree, but used his work ethic to save up whatever he could to pay for their home on Couch Avenue, working 60-70 hours per week as a cab driver for St. Louis County Cab. I didn’t realize until many years later, when I was applying for financial aid grants for college, that his income was below the poverty line. Our parents barely made ends meet and my dad gave my mom $40 per week to feed a family of four. I still have many fond memories of buying the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on a Sunday morning after church for 25 cents and clipping coupons with my mom, so she could stretch her meager budget a bit more, a valuable lesson as I learned how to get by on the basics. Lil NEVER complained about this hardship, but continued to focus on saving whatever we could to pay for our needs and prioritized the modest school fees at St. Peter’s Grade School.
Growing up in Kirkwood, I had no idea how lucky I was to have a mother who prioritized education as she did, and I applied myself in school to study diligently, as she encouraged me to create a better future for myself. My mom took me to the Kirkwood library weekly and we read together constantly when I was a young child. She taught me that investing in my education was her most important priority with her extra savings, and I never squandered a chance to learn in school.
In the spring of 1988, while I was in 7th grade, I remember sitting down with her at our dining room table. She came to me with tears in her eyes and told me that she could not afford to pay for a private high school, as she wasn’t able to save much with her side jobs. She gave me the option of going to Kirkwood High School for free or attending a private school that may require me to help pay. I had been cutting grass with my dad since I was 9 and decided to go to the local Target store with her that same day. We bought a 29-cent posterboard to cut out and design ‘Handy Andy’s Lawn Care Services’ business cards. The next day I walked to 20 homes in my neighborhood, knocking on doors and asking if I could help mow anyone’s lawn or rake leaves. I faced 100% rejection that first day, but followed her principle of RESILIENCE. She encouraged me every step of the way, and I eventually found 3 customers that first year and kept doubling the business for the next 7 years until my high school fees were paid off. I later applied the same RESILIENCE to receive admission to Northwestern University and Harvard Business School, and I used my last copy of my first set of business cards when I successfully applied to Harvard. One of my proudest moments was calling her when I received the admission letter, as she was the first one that I wanted to tell. She was so shocked that she couldn’t say a word and I asked her, “Aren’t you going to say anything?” Later, she would tell me that while she had full confidence in my application, she never thought that she would have a child who could get into Harvard; however, God had other plans in mind.
Environmental Steward
Mom was the most thrifty and environmentally conscious person that I knew. I have many fond memories of her working in the garden, as she always had a compost pit in the backyard. None of our banana peels or fruit scraps would ever go to waste, as she buried them along with our grass clippings and leaves, so that they could fertilize the garden the following spring with this free mulch.
I never remember having new clothes growing up, as we received boxes of hand-me-down clothes from my relatives. As my dad was the 10th of 12 kids and I had 51 first cousins, my mom was fortunate to have many options, so I’m grateful to my cousins, some of whom are sitting with us here now. My mom was humble enough to accept these contributions, as she always knew that “God had a plan.” She never threw away any scrap of clothing, as she would constantly be patching up holes in my jeans and would happily give clothes to others in need after I grew out of them.
One of my favorite hobbies with my mom growing up was looking for aluminum cans on the side of the road or as we walked in the park. Paula and I saw this as a fun game in which we could earn money, so we would constantly look for these empty aluminum cans in odd places and crush them with our feet. My mom would take us on a monthly trip to the Kirkwood Recycling Center and I still remember my first trip there when I was 5 years old, as my sister and I split the $2.36 that we earned. I thought that earning such BIG money was the best thing ever, and the lesson of ‘taking care of the earth while still earning money’ stuck with me decades later when I started my own entrepreneurial journey in the solar energy industry in 2008 with Clean Energy Associates. Now, 15 years later, the business which was inspired by my mom has scaled to over 230 professionals working in 15 countries and I still give credit to her inspiration. Her friends would tell me how proud she was of me that I shared this passion for ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP with her, and I continue to remind my team that we are creating a better future for God’s planet to combat the effects of climate change that we witness today.
Faith
Finally, of all of the traits from my mom that I’d like to share with you, the most important one was her deep passion for God. She prayed to Jesus daily and sought His protection constantly. She prayed with us every day before school and asked God’s angels to bless us as we drove around town.
She was an ardent supporter of St. Peter’s Church and felt God’s presence with her. I still have many happy memories of playing games at the back of church after mass, and once I was so spirited that I split my forehead open on the edge of a pew, rushing to the hospital in a bloody mess. She was the first to pick me up from the ground and cover my forehead gushing with blood. You can still see the scar from the stitches on my forehead today.
She cared deeply for her family and raised my sister and me with a deep appreciation for God’s power and love for us. Jesus had a special place in her heart and we prayed the rosary on our knees by her bed as a family when we were growing up. She prayed to Jesus constantly throughout the day and I heard her say prayers at various times of the day beneath her breath as she was moved by the Holy Spirit. Later, I would adopt a similar practice of daily meditation and prayer and spoke with her about her routine, as she was always happy to share her thoughts with me.
While I’ve been living in China and Thailand for the past 20 years, I had always hoped my mom could come and visit so that she could see her granddaughters in Asia, but she was either taking care of my dad or wasn’t in the best of health to travel, so instead we have fond memories traveling here to Kirkwood or meeting in Dallas with her grandchildren. Nonetheless, she prayed constantly for her grandkids, especially my second daughter Natalya, who was born with an intellectual disability. Natalya endured 9 different surgeries and still faces challenges on a daily basis, but my mom loved her deeply and had a strong conviction that God has a special purpose for her as well. My mom also prayed deeply for my wife Lindsay, as she knew the burden of raising children, especially the challenges of a special needs child. I experienced my mom’s faith as we spoke by FaceTime with our girls and she heard of our joys and challenges of living in a vastly different environment than Kirkwood. When our fourth daughter was born, Lindsay and I were pleased to name her Lilian Anne, using the first names of both of her grandmothers. When I asked my 5-year-old Lilian to make a card for Grandma Lil, she asked me if Grandma would write her back.
Closing
In preparing my comments today, I thought about my Uncle Bob, who constantly told me that Lil was a saint for all that she endured in her life, especially in marrying my dad and dealing with all of our struggles to make ends meet on his salary. As I am now the father of four loving daughters, Angelika, 12, Natalya, 10, Frances, 7 and Lilian, 5, I can only pray that I can raise them with the same deeply held beliefs that she shared with me. I love my mom and am eternally grateful for her RESILIENCE, her PASSION FOR PROTECTING GOD’S PLANET and HER FAITH. I firmly believe that she is looking down on all of us with a loving smile, so I hope that all of you can share in my joy that she is in heaven right now.
My mom’s faith remains a strong foundation for my own spiritual journey and I’m deeply grateful for her spiritual fortitude throughout her life.