LaDes Anita Glanzer, 74, passed away at home on July 1, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota after 14 years of cancer and its effects. She was born on January 27, 1945 in Minneapolis to Chris and Irene (Pullman) Glanzer who had come from South Dakota Mennonite families. After graduating from Brooklyn Center High School, she went on to the School of Associated Arts in St. Paul and the University of Minnesota, graduating in Biological Science. She briefly taught at West High until she opened a craft shop in Linden Hills in Southwest Minneapolis.
When she couldn’t afford both an apartment and a shop, she slept in the shop behind a bookcase. It was in that shop she met her future husband, Duke Klassen, who lived in the neighborhood. Six months later she jumped her lease and they sold all their possessions and moved to Paris for four months, later continuing on their travels through Europe, the Middle East and Africa for ten months.
Upon their return, LaDes and Duke began designing beaded jewelry and then became self-taught silversmiths. LaDes was a creative powerhouse. For 45 years they travelled the country selling their work at juried art fairs accompanied by their three daughters Ariana, Brenna and Ivy. LaDes was a loving and dedicated mother, always supporting her children to think critically about the world and follow their passions.
LaDes was also an avid photographer, rollerblading marathoner and experienced down-hill skier. She had a love of water sports and, somewhat to Duke’s chagrin, took the family on countless white-water rafting, kayaking, boating and snorkeling trips. An avid adventurer, she and Duke visited some forty countries around the world, always taking the chance to ride the ostrich; pile into the back of a pickup truck; or try exotic, unidentifiable foods in a night market. She loved cooking and often worked endlessly to replicate foreign cuisine she had enjoyed on her travels. Ever with a mischievous look in her eye, LaDes never failed to find a way to have fun. She raised Cecropia moths and designed an exquisite flower garden. As her health began to deteriorate she enjoyed nature documentaries and English detective “cozies.”
LaDes was preceded in death by her parents, and sister Janelle. LaDes is survived by her husband Duke Klassen, brother Greg Glanzer, daughters, Ariana, Brenna and Ivy Klassen-Glanzer and her four beloved Schnickelfritzen, Veda and Cora Meyers, and Theodore and Georgia Torossi.
LaDes will be missed dearly by her family and many friends. As a friend so aptly described it; “Still, the reality of it is like a big broken window. An immense ragged hole of searing beauty. The shards of crystal glass reflecting all the light we cannot see.”
Published on July 7, 2019
