A sister’s 50-year search will end with funeral service this weekend

Funeral services with full military honors for Dean Klenda of Marion will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday in Pilsen, 51 years to the day after he went missing in the Vietnam War.

Judging by the calls she’s getting, his sister, Deanna Klenda, expects the spacious St. John Nepomucene Catholic church in Pilsen to be full Saturday.

“This is a good thing,” she said. It’s a celebration of her brother’s life, and more, she said.

“A lot of families don’t get the answers I have now.”

U.S. Air Force Maj. Dean Klenda was a pilot with the 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron, which flew F-105 Thunderchiefs. He was shot down Sept. 17, 1965, east of Hanoi in North Vietnam.

He was classified as missing until two years ago. His remains were found, Deanna Klenda said, because of persistence by U.S. and Vietnamese military recovery teams.

Her brother will be buried immediately after the service in the cemetery just outside St. John Nepomucene, she said.

This story was originally published September 14, 2016 at 8:49 AM with the headline "A sister’s 50-year search will end with funeral service this weekend."