Ken Kliewer’s interest in shooting began when he was in the upper elementary grades in Cordell schools.
“My older brother Butch would take me out hunting. He’s four years older and I was about a sixth grader. He was a sophomore in high school and we would shoot shotguns and Caliber 22 rifles,” Ken recalls.
Last month, on Aug. 2, Ken, who is now 72 and resides in East Lansing, Mich., claimed the Gold Medal in the senior division of the Air Pistol competition in the 2020 Meijer State Games of Michigan Summer Games.
His brother still resides in Cordell. Ken is a 1966 graduate of Cordell High School.
Ken said, “In high school I wasn’t in sports. I was too small for football, not athletic enough for basketball and too slow for track. I had that competitive nature inside me but not a sport until I found target pistol shooting.”
When he joined the Oklahoma National Guard, he began shooting .45 caliber and .22 caliber pistols. “I did that for seven years,” he said, adding, “I shot a lot of civilian matches sponsored by the National Rifle Association with the same size pistols.”
He was a member of the Oklahoma National Guard pistol team that won several awards and in 1975 he won the individual championship competing against other Guardsmen. He was honored and presented the award by Maj. Gen. David C. Matthews.
Ken said he fluctuated between the first and third place best shooter on the team during his seven years in the Guard between 1971-1978. “I didn’t know I had the ability to shoot targets that have scoring rings,” he commented.
He mentioned that he’s shot pistols since the 1970s. “Since about 2017, I started shooting air pistols. My dream has always been to make the Olympic team, but they don’t have a senior division. My scores just aren’t good enough to compete with the younger shooters,” he acknowledged.
In winning the Gold Medal last month, he said his score was 506-6x. He had 60 shots and the highest possible score he could have was 600. “I had 506 points and hit the x-ring, the size of a pencil eraser, six times from 33 feet,” Ken explained, to capture Gold.
“Only 30 states have State Games for amateur athletes. Every two years the State Games of America has an Olympic style event between state game winners, Gold, Silver and Bronze. The next national event will be held in Ames, Iowa in 2022, organized by the National Congress of State Games (NCSG),” he related.
Ken said he qualified for the national event this year, but that it was canceled due to the Pandemic.
After Ken graduated from high school, he went to Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford and in1970 earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Education with a minor in Language Arts. “While in high school I knew I wanted to be teaching students. Knew that was I wanted to do,” he said.
He earned his Master’s Degree in Speech Language Pathology from Phillips University in Enid. “I spent 40 years teaching Speech and Drama or Speech Pathology,” he said.
The final two years of his career he was a Speech Language Pathologist in the Burns Flat-Dill City School District. “I loved teaching kids, helping kids,” Ken reflected.
Upon retirement from teaching, he moved to East Lansing, Mich., to be closer to his son Chris and his grandson Tyler, noting, “I’m starting my sixth year here.”
He works for his son Chris, who along with a partner own a construction company. “I’m a carpenter and a painter. The company focuses on short remodels and we do maintenance for businesses and homeowners,” Ken said.
“The painting has increased my hand coordination and strength and endurance which transfers to the pistol shooting world,” he believes.
“God has blessed me with a lot of natural talent for target pistol shooting and desire to compete,” he said.
Ken believes, “The people I grew up with in Cordell are long life friends and are the best people in the world. I still bank in Cordell and am excited to bank at Great Plains National Bank.”
He points out, “I was a shy kid when I started working for my dad when I was in the fourth grade. My brother and I worked for him. He owned Klein Oil Co., which was a service station.”
“We also raised wheat and we raised cattle. I grew up working 10-16 hours a day, working at either the gas station, working the cattle or plowing ground,” he continued.
“My dad instilled in us a love for this country as we grew up in Cordell. He also taught us to stand behind our word. If you told somebody it would get done, it would get done even if it took money out of our pocket to get it done,” Ken said.
“He believed in an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.”
Ken said at age 72 that “I’m more excited now than when I was 25. I enjoy life more now than I ever have.”