Vernon Ray Klinefelter MD December 14, 1951 ------ April 28, 2024
Dr V Ray Klinefelter was born in Taylorville, IL, the son of James Harold and Phyllis Louise (Melvin) Klinefelter. He married Geraldine (Gerry) A Vancil in January 1971. He is survived by his wife, Gerry and his daughter Rachelle L Roth of Fort Worth TX, his son Phillip G Klinefelter of Rochester, IL; four beautiful granddaughters: Elliana Roth, Sophia Roth, Zoey Klinefelter, and Mila Klinefelter. He is also survived by his mother Phyllis L Harris and three surviving siblings: James L Klinefelter of Taylorville, IL, Mark A Klinefelter of Taylorville, IL, and JoAnn Christofferson of South Daytona, FL. He was preceded in death by his father James H Klinefelter, brother Donald C Klinefelter and son Paul A Klinefelter. A visitation will be held at McClure Funeral Home on Thursday, May 2, 2024 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM.
He learned to work hard at a young age on the family farm. He began to drive tractors with blocks of wood on the pedals so that his feet could reach the brake, clutch, and gas pedals. He cleaned out the cattle barn every Saturday with his younger brother instead of watching cartoons and often got up early and had farm chores before catching the bus for school. He walked the corn and bean fields during the summer cutting out weeds while listening to music on a crackling transistor radio. In high school he worked at Summer’s shoe store with Hymie Summers who became a much loved mentor and gave Ray a lifelong love of clothes and shoes.
He had a severe burn on his left leg at age ten and spent one month in the hospital and then several more months on the sofa recovering at home. He read the entire set of Britannica encyclopedias that summer. This started his reputation for being a walking encyclopedia for the remainder of his life. His daughter has said “my dad was my Google”.
He won the Illinois State Science Fair in 1971 for his project using lasers to make holograms. At the time, PhD candidates were doing their thesis on exactly that—making holograms using expensive vibration proof concrete enclosures. He made his on a base of Styrofoam in the Taylorville Junior High School science lab because that room would have less vibration than the third-floor science room at the high school. He was offered many scholarships, including to Ivy League schools, but chose to marry his girlfriend who became the love of his life, mother of his three children, and his most loyal supporter.
In order to support his new family, he got a job at the soybean factory as a laborer and then advanced to a maintenance repairman after he got a perfect score on a test that all applicants had to take testing their general knowledge of math and electrical theory. Over the next several years, he began going back to college interspersed with working. He worked as a maintenance man at Alma Plastics and a salesman at a mobile home sales company in Marion, IL. He was even featured in a television ad they ran.
He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and was involved in publishing research in his advanced chemistry class. He then attended the University of Illinois Medical School in Champaign, IL and then went to a family practice residency associated with SIU.
He began his medical practice in Shelbyville, IL which he often likened to Mayberry as it was such a sweet, wholesome town. As a practicing physician, his day began early to make morning rounds on his hospitalized patients. He then went to his office for a busy day of treating all ages of patients from newborns to his oldest patient of 103 years. He usually saved the last hour of office for surgery, including skin cancers. He was often on call for the emergency room and his day would continue through the evening and night seeing patients through the ER.
If he had a dying patient, he would spend time with them and the family as they passed, praying for them and comforting them in their final hours. In his early years, he would occasionally make house calls and on one occasion carried an elderly woman from the house to his car and drove her himself to the ER. He loved being a doctor and was known as Dr Ray. He treated all of his patients with kindness, compassion, and dignity. Toward the end of his career he moved to Taylorville, IL to be closer to family after the death of his father.
As a young man, his Sunday school teacher was his paternal grandmother, and his maternal grandmother took him to the Pentecostal Church of Christ. He was baptized in a horse water trough at a summer Church of Christ Camp as a young boy. He looked forward to Heaven after having a near death experience. In this glimpse of Heaven, he experienced complete freedom from pain and great joy in the presence of God. He dedicated his life to the Christian faith and never hesitated to share his faith and prayers with all he came in contact with. This carried over into his medical practice as he often prayed with his patients. He loved reading the Bible and would go back to the original Hebrew and Greek to parse out subtle meanings.
In his free time, he loved to spend time with his family and friends, working on muscle cars, riding motorcycles, fishing, and hunting. Working on the cars could include complete motor rebuilds and major body work with fabricating and painting. He loved people and was known to be able to talk to anyone about virtually any subject; he never met a stranger.
McClure Funeral Home and Cremation Services in Taylorville is assisting the family with arrangements.
.webp)
