Maurice Gerard Kleve, Jr.

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Kleve, Maurice Gerard, Jr. age 71, died on March 3, 2017, in Little Rock, Arkansas, from Alzheimer's disease and congestive heart failure. Maury was born on July 20, 1945, in Dakota County, the eldest of five children of Maurice G. Kleve Sr. and Irene Doris Kleve (née Smith). He received a B.S. in cell biology in 1969 from Mankato State College and a PhD from the University of Houston in 1977. He ran a biology laboratory at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for 35 years. Dr. Kleve taught thousands of young minds to examine their beliefs rationally, to understand the scientific method and processes of evolution, and to love the interconnectedness of all life on our planet. He gifted students with his curiosity and intense love of learning. Preceeded in death by his parents and wife, Loretta Annette Kleve (née Griffin), he is survived by daughter and long-term caregiver Annette Raschel Kleve of Little Rock, AR; two brothers, John Vernon and Thomas Kleve; sisters Maureen Vosejpka and Marlene Ellingson, all of Minnesota. Maury loved his bonus grandchildren, William and Rose Mae Meyer, of Lake Bluff, IL. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Msgr. Francis I. Malone on Friday, March 10 at 11:30 a.m. at Christ the King Catholic Church, with interment at 3:00 p.m. at East Lawn Cemetery in Marshall, Arkansas, alongside his wife Loretta. Little Rock Funeral Home, (501) 224-2200.

Published on March 9, 2017