Frits "Fred" Claus

Frits Josephus Carolus Claus was born March 15, 1942 in The Hague, Holland, and left us Jan. 16, 2013. He was a loving son, brother, father and "Opa." He is survived by his mother, Johanna (Ann) Claus of Salt Lake City; his brother, Hans of Boise, Idaho; his sisters, Ann, Sylvia and Shirley of Salt Lake City; and his children, Alan of Pendleton, Ore., Pamela of Las Vegas, and Deanna of Pendleton. He was a proud Opa of nine grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his father, Adrianus Claus; and brother, Frank Claus of Salt Lake City. Fred came to America with his family docking in New York April 4, 1952. The family traveled to Salt Lake City, where he lived and attended school. He moved to Las Vegas in 1961 with his wife, Irene, where they started a family, and he remained a resident of Las Vegas since. He was an automotive technician specialist for many years at Stardust Texaco and was self-proclaimed to be the mechanic to the stars. He had many stories to tell of how "Vegas" used to be and loved the history of Nevada. Fred was a walking encyclopedia of useless knowledge, meaning, he knew who invented what, when and where, which we respected but laughed about. He was willing to teach with persuasion making sure you were in fact wanting to learn. Our son, brother, daddy, uncle, gramps, and Opa, you will be missed.

Arrangements under the direction of Palm Northwest Mortuary, Las Vegas, NV.