Gene E. Claussen, 81, of 2364 Willowbrooke Lane, Iowa City, died Saturday, October 26, 2002, at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics following a short illness.

Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Friday, November 1, 2002, at the Lensing Funeral & Cremation Service, 605 Kirkwood Avenue, Iowa City, with Lucille Gregory, officiating. There will be no visitation and burial will be at a later date. Memorials may be made to the First Church of Christ Scientist, Iowa City, or the Journalism, Museum, or Athletic departments at the University of Iowa, c/o the University of Iowa Foundation.

Gene E. Claussen was born November 20, 1920, in Manning, Iowa, the son of Claus and Clara (Ewoldt) Claussen. He grew up and attended school in Manning, graduating from Manning High School in 1938. He received his BA from the University of Iowa in 1942. He was a member of the honorary fraternity, Omicron Delta Kappa and received the Brewer-Torch Press Key.

He served in the Merchant Marines during World War II, serving in New York and in the Mediterranean. He was united in marriage to Margaret "Marmee" Miller on June 7, 1946, in Cedar Rapids. The couple made their home in Cedar Rapids where he worked for WMT Radio and later moved to St. Louis and was associated with KMOX, a CBS station. In 1948 they moved to Iowa City and he was one of the founders of KXIC Radio and later KKRQ-FM. Mr. Claussen was a news and sportscaster from 1948 until retiring in 1988. He sold the station in 1981. In retirement the couple made their home in Door County, Wisconsin, during the summer and recent winters in Bodega Bay, California.

Gene was a member of the First Church of Christ Scientist in Iowa City, was involved in Friends of the University of Iowa Museum, is a member of the Presidents Club, the National Association of Broadcasters, the Iowa Broadcasting Network, had served as President of the Iowa Broadcasters Association and was awarded Broadcaster of the Year on three separate years.

Gene is survived by his wife, Marmee of Iowa City; his daughter, Christina and her husband, Dennis O'Leary, of Evergreen, Colorado; his son, James and his wife, Candice, Claussen of San Bruno, California; four grandchildren, Rosanne and Celeste and Ian and Eric Claussen; one sister, Ila and her husband, Arthur, Rix of Manning, Iowa; his brother, Glen Claussen of Alta Loma, California; and three nieces and two nephews.

Former Voice of Hawk's dies
By Vanessa Miller
Iowa City Press-Citizen

Gene Claussen, 81, founder of KXIC radio, died Saturday at University Hospitals of complications from a stroke.

Claussen broadcast news and sports for 40 years in Iowa City.

Bob Brooks, retired sports broadcaster and occasional sports analyst for KCRG-TV, spent many University of Iowa football and basketball games broadcasting with Claussen.

"He loved the Hawks, too," Brooks said. "We enjoyed a lot of Iowa wins. He had a great ride of it."

Brooks told of how in 1980 the NCAA began limiting the number of radio stations that could air basketball games.

So Claussen, who owned KXIC, allowed Brooks, sports director for KHAKFM in Cedar Rapids, to join him broadcasting UI athletic events.

"That's how kind and generous he was," Brooks said of Claussen. "He allowed me to come on and join him and we could do the games together."

"He was a gentleman broadcaster, a delight to be around and to work with. I had great respect for him, not just as a sports broadcaster, but as an owner as well. I also knew him in that light."

Claussen grew up in Manning and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from UI in 1942. He served in the Merchant Marine during World War II from 1943 to 1945 and then returned in 1948 to start up KXIC-AM.

"He was a real professional and highly thought of," said George Wine, former UI sports information director. Wine worked with Claussen for 20 years.

"He will be missed by the Hawkeye family because he was a part of it for 40 years," Wine said, adding that traveling with Claussen to UI games was a pleasure.

"He was a connoisseur of wine," he said. "He enjoyed food, and when he said we should have a certain wine with our meal, why, we generally did."

The Iowa Broadcasting Network honored Claussen on three different occasions as Broadcaster of the Year.

"He was a real broadcast icon for the Hawkeyes," Wine said.

Claussen is survived by his wife, Marmee; two children, Christina O'Leary, who lives in Englewood, Colorado, with her husband, Dennis O'Leary, and James Claussen, who lives in San Bruno, California, with his wife, Candice Claussen; one sister, Ila Rix, who lives in Manning with her husband, Arthur Rix; one brother, Glen Claussen, who lives in California; and four grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements are pending at Lensing Funeral &Cremation Service.