WILLMAR -- Ellsworth Klemmetson, 79, a figure in Willmar youth sports for more than 50 years, died Sunday morning at Rice Memorial Hospital.
Dorothy Klemmetson said her brother-in-law was stricken, possibly with a kidney infection, Saturday morning and taken to the hospital. He had resided at Willmar Commons Nursing Home for the past three years.
"Elsie," as he was universally known, was closely associated with VFW baseball since the 1960s as a manager, bench coach and treasurer. This summer was his first not in uniform, though he still attended games.
The 1949 Willmar graduate and Army veteran started coaching youth basketball and junior baseball in 1955. He went on to coach the Willmar Police PeeWee baseball team for 25 years.
Klemmetson is a native of Leonard, in northern Minnesota.
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Funeral arrangements are pending.
