The Kleckers story begins like this:
Tom, a former U.S. Navy Seabee turned carpenter, had plans to move out of an apartment building in St. Paul to find a place with room for his brother returning from Vietnam. Meg, a fifth-grade teacher, had just moved into the same building.
Their paths could have easily missed one another but a nudge from a young baseball team brought Tom and Meg together.
“I coached these kids, and they said, ‘You know, Tom, you really wouldn’t have to move if you married Miss Burke,’” Tom recalled. “They were talking her up, so I got up the nerve, knocked on her door, introduced myself and mentioned the kids.”
Meg was raised on a farm in Western North Dakota, while Tom spent his childhood in an inner-city St. Paul neighborhood. Their experiences were “like night and day,” Tom admits. But the two hit it off and, shortly after their first date at the Guthrie Theater, Tom proposed.
Despite their differences, the couple feels that their faith is what anchored their marriage. Meg shared that faith may have even saved it a few times.
In some ways, the Kleckers have embraced Pope Paul VI’s encyclical “Humanae Vitae,” believing in its core teaching, “[Married love is] an act of free will, whose trust is such that it is meant not only to survive the joys and sorrows of daily life, but also to grow, so that husband and wife become in a way one heart and one soul, and together attain their human fulfillment.”
On July 23, the couple will receive an award named for this encyclical, the Diocese of St. Cloud’s annual ‘Humanae Vitae’ Award, presented for their extraordinary courage promoting the teachings of the encyclical written in 1968.
The Klecker’s 57-year marriage has been filled with joys — the birth of their son and daughter, building a home together, caring for their garden and now, in retirement, daily Mass and adoration. They’ve seen sorrows, too — job changes, moves and Tom’s cancer diagnosis, to name a few. And all throughout, their days have been sprinkled with little annoyances that both agree are not worth the worry.
“Some things have easy solutions,” Meg shared. “I squeeze the toothpaste different than he does, so we each have our own toothpaste. Early in marriage it’s an adjustment, and as we’ve gotten older, we just ask ourselves, ‘What’s really important? Is this a big deal?’”
They choose, instead, to focus on building a marriage rooted in faith and service. Later in their marriage, they regularly attended Marriage Encounter, a faith-based marriage enrichment program, and individual silent retreats at King’s House in Buffalo. They also have a robust volunteer resumé including working together at Elevate Pregnancy and Family Resource Center, advocating for pro-life issues, visiting individuals in hospice care and serving their parish, St. Joseph Parish in St. Joseph, in countless ways.
For the past 26 years, they’ve served as a sponsor couple as part of the diocesan Fully Engaged marriage preparation program. Each year they meet regularly with two or more couples.
“We really stress the importance of marriage and congratulate them for getting married because so many don’t,” Meg said. “The graces you receive from the sacrament really are a bonus for your married life because there are bumps in the road.”
The program also encourages conversation about the subject of Natural Family Planning and the Church’s teaching on contraception. Dr. Tom Newton, also a member of St. Joseph Parish and the 2020 Humanae Vitae award winner, was one of two who nominated the Kleckers for the award.
“They do an excellent job of emphasizing this and sharing their own experience with natural family planning,” Newton said.
Tom and Meg, retired psychologist and special education teacher respectively, credit their career fields for building their communication skills and helping them through these challenging conversations.
“Working with pedophiles, sexual offenders and rapists, you see how, particularly in the area of sexuality, where it’s become, if not a marketable commodity, something so cavalier where for so many people, experiencing [sex] just loses some sanctity,” Tom said.
The Kleckers admit they don’t want to “be preachy,” but they want couples to understand they have a definite position.
“We emphasize the joy and celebration of marriage and of having children,” Tom said. “It’s inconceivable how life would be if we weren’t married and had children.”
This is the message “Humanae Vitae” expresses: “[Through the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony] the Lord has entrusted to them the task of making visible to men and women the holiness and joy of the law which united inseparably their love for one another and the cooperation they give to God’s love, God who is the author of human life.”
Marian Bach, a fellow parishioner who also nominated the Kleckers for the “Humanae Vitae” award, said the Kleckers embody this core message.
“As a married couple they exemplify an outstanding respect for each other,” Bach said. “The words Pope Paul VI wrote in ‘Humanae Vitae’ can be applied to the beautiful relationship the Kleckers have and the Christ-centered interactions they have with anyone they encounter.”
“Both are a vibrant source of inspiration for all age groups of our parish,” Newton added.
Annually, the Diocese of St. Cloud presents the “Humanae Vitae” award to someone who has demonstrated extraordinary courage in promoting natural family planning and the teachings of the encyclical.
The Mass celebrating the Kleckers and the 58th anniversary of “Humanae Vitae” is July 23 at 7 p.m. at Mary’s Cathedral in St. Cloud. All are welcome to attend.
Congratulations for the well-deserved award.
Tom and Meg are amazing people who dedicated their lives to the service of others.