Cassie Vanhooser Kleis | July 4, 1978 - January 21, 2022
Obituaries-Pierre / Posted Jan 25, 2022 | 5:28 AM / 417 views
Cassie Jene VanHooser Kleis passed away Friday, January 21st at the age of 43 after a hard battle with Stage 4 Lung Cancer.
Cassie’s service can be viewed here:
Cassie was born to Roxanne Knight and Patrick VanHooser in Iowa City, Iowa on July 4th, 1978. They soon after moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota where she was raised by Roxanne and Danny Tucker. She spent her days getting into trouble with her best friends and siblings Dawn, Jon, and Angeleah.
On November 21st, 1994, Cassie and Larry welcomed daughter Rheighna VanHooser to the world. Looking at her beautiful baby girl, everything clicked into place for Cassie. From that moment on, she knew that was what she was supposed to do with her life. She was born to be a mom, and a damn good one at that.
Shortly after the birth of her daughter, Cassie met Ben Kleis and while it was love at first sight for him, she was a little more stubborn and was going to make him work for it. It wasn’t in vain however, when they got together and started a truly amazing love story. They welcomed a beautiful baby boy, Matthew VanHooser, in 1997 after two years of being together. They married 11 days later.
The next several years were spent moving around. They welcomed 6 other children, heartbreakingly lost countless others, and even adopted another. The door was always open to anyone needing a home. Their hearts were full, and now their home was too. The family settled in Blunt, South Dakota, planting roots where Cassie spent the rest of her days surrounded by love and children just as stubborn as she was.
Cassie was strong. She fought to the very end, longer than anyone else could have. She made sure everyone around her had time to say goodbye, that everyone knew to be there for each other when she no longer could be.
She raised her children to be fighters. To be brave, selfless, and independent. She taught them that nothing mattered more than family. Her and Ben set a strong example of what love is, and what complete devotion looked like. Cassie deserved many life times, but no amount of time would have been enough. She will be greatly and devastatingly missed.
Cassie is predeceased by Patrick VanHooser, Larry Spade, Xander VanHooser, and Everleigh Ludemann.
She is survived by parents Roxanne and Danny; sisters Dawn and Angeleah; brother Jon; husband Ben Kleis; children Melvin, Rheighna, Matthew, Angel, Ben, Megan, Robynn (Dezzy), Shawn, and Danny; bonus children Tracy, Randy, Daisha, Trevor, Andrea, and Chris; Grandchildren Jessie, Apollo, Evan, Mel Jr., Rhett, Ophelia, Jazmyne, Kaysea, Justin, Elliot, KeiLeigh, and Ellyssa.
