ANN LOUISE (KLETZIEN) LUTZ

Anne Louise (Kletzien) Lutz was born July 2, 1951 to Joyce Madeline McCormick Kletzien and Ronald William Kletzien, the fourth of six children.

She is survived by sisters Chris (Tom) Grannis and Helene (Steve) Gyarmaty; brothers Rolf (Judy) Kletzien and Loyal (Bill O’Rourke) Kletzien; her two children:  son, Staff Sergeant Conrad Lutz and daughter, Margaret Parker; a grandson, Colin Nathaniel Parker; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Her younger sister, Margaret Mary Kletzien, died in a car accident in 1972.

Anne passed away on April 24, 2023.

She graduated from Brodhead High School in 1969. She excelled in her academic studies and became a National Merit Scholar finalist. In 1974, Anne graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. She was also inducted into Tau Beta Pi, and honorary engineering society in 1973. When she graduated, Anne was in the 1% of the women who en-tered the ranks of predominantly male engineers. She completed registration as a Professional Engineer in both Wisconsin (1978) and Colorado (1985). She also completed a Master’s Degree in Business Administration at Colorado State University in 1988.

Anne began work in 1975, building and project managing oil and gas treatment plants, gas pipelines, and offshore platforms in Texas and California for Arco Oil & Gas Company. She worked 23 years for Alliant Energy beginning as an industrial engineer in 1988 and retiring as a regional director in 2011. She also worked in Brazil for Alliant Energy from 1999 to 2003, learning Portuguese. There, she was responsible for project management and construction of a gas power plant in the city of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, in southern Brazil. In 2011, Anne decided to move to Longmont, Colorado to work for Longmont Power & Communications. She retired from there in 2021 as director of Energy Strategies and Solu-tions.

Anne developed a wanderlust for travel and the mountains at an early age. Over the years, she traveled to six continents and climbed the highest peaks in four of them: South America, Europe, Af-rica, and Australia. She also climbed Mount Rainier in the U.S. as well as Orizaba and Ixtaccihuatl in Mexico. She and her daughter Margaret climbed the world’s highest active volcano in Ecuador, Cotopaxi. She also climbed all 55 peaks over 14,000 feet high in Colorado. She trekked twice in Nepal, once to Everest Base Camp and once to Annapurna. Many of these mountaineering trips were done with friends and her children, Margaret and Conrad, and her sister Helene and her nephew Michael. Anne taught many courses on mountaineering, hiking, and snowshoeing during her time in Colorado.

Contributions may be made in Anne’s memory to the Colorado Fourteener Initiative as well as the Colorado Mountaineering Club.

A memorial service for Anne will be held on Saturday, May 6, at Cress Funeral Home: Madison West, 3610 Speedway Road, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.