Clifford W. "Kip" Vetterkind

Clifford “Kip” W. Vetterkind, age, 81, passed away on Monday, June, 2, 2014 at the MCHS in Bloomer after a hard fight with cancer. He was born on June 19, 1932 in Thorp WI to Walter and Helen (Wingert) Vetterkind. When he was very young his family moved to Island Lake where he grew up helping his dad saw Lumber. He served in the US Army from 1954-1956 and was stationed in Fort Benning, GA and Okinawa. He married Phyllis Dunn in 1954. After his discharge from the Army they lived in Eau Claire where Kip was a foreman at the City Parks and Recreation Department. After work he spent a lot of time at the airport and in 1963 he got his pilot’s license. In 1972 he and his two younger brothers started Bloomer Welding and Machine, which ran until 1978. During these years they moved to the town of Sampson where he built an airstrip and several airplane hangars. Kip loved to tinker and find out how things worked and reuse and reinvent things for practical use. He was a very talented person who got pleasure from hunting, fishing, camping, traveling, snowmobiling and most of all flying. There was rarely a weekend that someone did not stop in with their plane to see Kip and partake in his knowledge of flying. He cherished all the moments when friends and family stopped to visit to “pass the bull”.


He is survived by his wife of 59 years: Phyllis of New Auburn; brothers: Gary Vetterkind of New Auburn, Tracy Vetterkind of Bruce, Fritz (Nancy) Vetterkind of New Auburn and Jack Vetterkind of New Auburn; sisters: Marjorie Keen of Springfield, Mae Frank of Bloomer, June (Darrell) Davis of Rockford, Darlene (Fred) Pearson of Rockford, Corrine (Lyle) Worthington of New Auburn, numerous nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

He is preceded in death by his parents: Walter and Helen; sisters: Dona Nelson, Lorraine Bahr, and Virginia Vetterkind; brothers: Michael and Richard Vetterkind
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, June 7, 2014 at 1:00 PM at the Olson Funeral Home in Bloomer with a visitation from 11:00-1:00 PM before the service.