Obituary of Leif Brunsgaard Klausen

 

 

Leif Brunsgaard Klausen passed on March 25th, 2024 of complications related to congestive heart failure at the age of 86. He is survived by his daughters Monique and Debbie and son Jim.

The youngest of 11 children, Leif was born to farmers Ida and Cornelius Klausen on February 23rd, 1938 in Graestrup, Denmark. Full of dreams and endless optimism, Leif emigrated to the United States in 1964. He was the only sibling to leave his homeland and the only brother that didn’t go into pig farming.

He started his American life in Chicago and moved to the greater Sacramento area not long after he emigrated. There he connected with a wonderful group of Danes and began a career as a milkman. On his milk route, he met a beautiful single German woman with 2 young children. The beauty was my mother, Tessie. As the story goes, he would leave free chocolate milk for the children; my mother fell for his kind eyes. Leif and Tessie married in 1966. He formally adopted the children, and they had another daughter in 1967. I’m the milkman’s daughter. Leif and Tessie remained married until her death in 2023.

While Leif was proud of his Danish roots and remained close to his large Danish family, he was fiercely proud to be an American citizen. He began a career in real estate in the 70’s. An early adopter of the positive thinking/mindset movement, Leif wrote goals and affirmations daily. The positivity and work ethic manifested in much sales success and many achievement awards throughout his career.

A devout lifelong Lutheran, Leif loved life and all the puns he could make with his name. His corny sense of humor knew no bounds. Lighthearted, loving and kind until the very end, Leif touched many lives with his humor, warmth and optimism. He will be sorely missed.