Lots of people do not realize the Grandma (Loretta) Kleiber almost became a nun as she came from a very religious family. Well one member of her family did become a nun, we just referred to her as “Sister” (actually she was Aunt Cil’s sister which makes her a cousin). She would show up at almost all our family events and was a lot of fun to be around. She always wore her habit, which is Catholic Nun traditional outfit. Nuns, Monks, Religious Sisters and Brothers wear Habits as an outward sign of their devotion to giving their entire life to God and Jesus. Older type habits that covered the head and body were adapted from Medieval dress and clerical and academic attire.

Unfortunately James Dad was in the military at this time so he missed the festivities, however he heard all about the party via letters and such as it was a very big success.

Continue reading “Sister Evarista Retirement Birthday Party 1980” →

According to our ancestry.com account (which is run by her second cousin James), Natalie Marie Dunberger was born in 1979, the daughter of Pat and Mark. She married William Arthur Kelly on November 5, 2000, in Clark, Nevada. They had three children during their marriage. She has one brother and one sister.

Natalie served in the military as well, her path was a little different because she went to the Marines (I think everyone else was army, guess thats why they call them “the few”). We are all very proud of Natalie and her service to this country, especially during a war.

Natalie was married while in the service but unfortunately her husband was killed in a traffic accident (non military related). This was a shock for everyone to attend a funeral for someone so young. Natalie currently is going to school part time while supporting her family as well.

Continue reading “Natalie Dunberger Born 1979” →

When Charles Joseph Kleiber was born in 1960 in Detroit, Michigan, his father, Charles, was 43 and his mother, Loretta, was 40. He married Mary Elizabeth Landis on September 5, 2002, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. They have one child James Raymond Kleiber. He has two sisters, Christine Louise and Margaret Ann (aka Peg).

Chuck was in the service from 1980 until 1984 including one year overseas in Korea and TDY in Alaska and Japan. After the military he furthered his education and then in 1986 went to work for a NY based company and has been with them ever since. Currently the designer of this website and several others that you may run across on your internet adventures, perhaps his best contribution on the web was designing a field website for his company which won him an award from his company earlier in the nineties.

Continue reading “Chuck Kleiber Adulthood 1978” →

Renee is the daughter of Mark and Kathy, Sister to Ron and Natalie, Granddaughter to Louise, 2nd cousin to James, and Godmother to James as well.

Renee recently got married in Las Vegas and served her country as an army reservist. She and her husband have been to Iraq several times in service to their country. Renee retired from the military a few years back and now enjoys entrepreneurship with her husband.

The thing James Dad remembers most about Renee working is not the military but the gift shop (Grange I think) that she used to work at, every time he walked into that store it seemed she was working behind the counter. At least you always knew where to find her on our Saturday visits to Trenton.

As mentioned above Renee is James Godmother and Peg is Renee’s Godmother.

Continue reading “Renee Dunberger Born 1974” →

According to our sources at Ancestry.com (currently worked by her nephew James) when Cristine Louise Kleiber was born on August 20, 1950, her father, Charles, was 33, and her mother, Loretta, was 30. She married Kenny Selvia in 1987 and has one brother (Charles Joseph) and one sister (Margaret Ann).

Christine held many jobs but two really stand out in my mind. The first was as a sales person at Montgomery Ward. This lead to her family buying some high end products (at the time) including a keyboard synthesizer and a Captain Fantastic Pinball Machine. Both these products provided years of fun to the Kleiber family, especially the Captain Fantastic pinball machine (we included a picture of it from the seventies in the gallery).

The other job that really stands out is her work as a nurse with Doctor Joshowitz. The office was on Outer Drive near Southfield so it was very close to most of the family. One year she had a guillotine in the office with a sign saying “we now do vasectomies” which gives you an idea of the fun place it was, or at least as fun as a doctors office can be. We have also included a picture of the guillotine in this gallery.

Continue reading “Christine Kleiber 21 Birthday (Adulthood Pics) 1971” →

Ron was actually born in Germany while his Dad (Mark Dunberger) was in the military. Ron is Mark and Kathy’s son, Renee’s brother, Louise’s Grandson and Natalie’s half brother and James 2nd Cousin.

Growing up Ron was a child of the Star Wars generation and a big fan. For years people would try and find new Star Wars gifts for him for Birthdays and Christmas. Fortunately Star Wars was a big franchise and there were always more Star War toys to buy in the seventies. Ron goes all out for the holidays, especially Halloween and Christmas and you will see a lot of his work in these pictures throughout this blog.

Ron is an awesome cook, while in College he took some cooking classes and makes some pretty great dishes. His lasagna is so good that everyone agrees its the best that they ever tasted.

Ron and his friend Jordan have appeared in a few television shows during his time out in Hollywood and I believe Ron has done some voice work in Hollywood as well.

Continue reading “Ron Dunberger Born 1969” →

According to our sources at Ancestry.com (currently worked by his son James) when Charles Joseph Kleiber was born on December 17, 1960, in Detroit, Michigan, his father, Charles, was 43 and his mother, Loretta, was 40. He married Mary Elizabeth Landis on September 5, 2002, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. They have one child, James Raymond Kleiber. He has two siblings, Christine and Margaret.

Chuck (James Dad) is probably best known for trying to cook cookies on a frying pan, getting his head stuck in a box when he was small, and throwing the ball that hit home plate and ricochet right through the convent window at St Alberts. Chuck also was responsible for several incidents in the Kleiber family including the football birthday cake incident, the fake lottery ticket incident, and the baby stinky incident on Pegs birthday in Trenton.

Continue reading “Charles Joseph Kleiber Birth (Childhood Pictures) 1960” →

Thirteen years ago Mark was born and almost immediately earned the reputation as the number one troublemaker in the family. Kleiber legend and lore has it that Pappy Graf was so upset with him (Mark saw him walking down the street and shouted “Hey pappy, you going to put down a few at the Bar” which was the final straw) that he waited for him around a corner with his cane (pappy could not catch the fleet footed little Mark) and when Mark walked by, hooked him with his cane and told him what his life would be like if he didn’t start treating people with respect.

Well now this youngster is a teenager and as these picture show Mark was involved in a multitude of activities including playing in a band, playing an instrument in a parade, Scouts, fishing, camping, and many other fun activities most teens would love to do.

Lots of pictures in this gallery including some from a photo booth which were popular in that era.

Continue reading “Mark Becomes A Teenager 1959” →

When Mary Elizabeth Landis was born in 1958, in Montgomery, Alabama, her father, William, was 30, and her mother, Judith, was 21. She married Charles Joseph Kleiber on September 5, 2002, in Dearborn Heights, Michigan. They have one child. She had three brothers.

Mary is the daughter of Howard and Judith, Sister to Bill, Wife to Chuck, and Mother to James. She is one of the sweetest people I know and is always trying to help others. She is a great mother to James and we all love her very much.

Mary has worked in real estate and also worked in restaurants, both managing them and as an employee. Like her father and brother, Mary is very knowledgeable about cars and automobiles, although she stops short of working on them. Her favorite car is a Nash Metropolitan because she used to ride in one to school when she was a kid. She does web designing and has done very well in that area both creatively and financially. She also enjoys running a household and is an excellent cook for James and myself.

We would not know what to do without her.

Continue reading “Mary Landis Born 1958” →

According to our sources at Ancestry.com (currently worked by her nephew James) when Cristine Louise Kleiber was born in 1950, her father, Charles, was 33, and her mother, Loretta, was 30. She married Kenny Selvia in 1987 and has one brother (Charles Joseph) and one sister (Margaret Ann).

Christine often says that being the middle child is the hardest one to be, since all the attention goes to the oldest and youngest in most families. Looking at her childhood pictures she may have a point as it seems that there is a Peg or a Mark in almost every picture with her. As she got older, it seems she began sharing the photo spotlight with her little brother. Criss also says her dad wanted a boy so she grew up a bit of a tomboy as a child.

Another thing she often said was that her dad wanted a boy and would buy her things a boy would like, trying to turn her into a tom boy, looking at the picture of her dressed with cowboy guns and holsters you have to give her the benefit of the doubt on that as well.

Continue reading “Christine Kleiber Born (Childhood Pics) 1950” →