21 Things You Might Not Know About Me: Tom Klassa

This week's 21 Things You Might Not Know About Me features Tom Klassa.  Tom is the owner of Shell Lake Marine, with additional locations in Danbury and Siren, Wisconsin. You can learn about Shell Lake Marine by visiting their website or calling the Shell Lake location at: 715-468-7662

1. I was born January 4th 1973
2. I grew up on a dairy farm and graduated from High school in Prairie Farm, WI
3. I joined the Marine Corp and was medically discharged after 18 months due to a birth defect in my back previously undiagnosed.
4. After the Marines, I was a dairy herdsman for two years.
5. My wife Jennie had to drive herself to the hospital to deliver our oldest daughter Paige while I finished milking 80 cows.  When I arrived at the hospital the Doctor and I watched the Super Bowl in the Delivery room while waiting for labor to progress.
6. I attended CDL Truck Driving School and graduated first in my class of 61.  I drove truck over the road until our younger daughter Kourtney was born in 1995.
7. I have built 6 of our homes including 2 vacation homes in Alaska.
8. I have driven the 8,000 mile round trip to Alaska via the ALCAN 14 times, the first time when I was 19.  We hit a pothole in Canada and broke the frame of our van, I had to use a come along to pull frame together enough to limp to a town and borrow a welder from the town shop to fix the frame.
9. Our current cabin in Alaska sits 1200 feet above cook inlet and we can see from Kodiak Island to Mt. Mckinley 300 miles away.
10. have raised beef cows for the past 20 years.  We sell the calves each fall as feeders.  In that time I have seen the price fluctuate from $250 to $1350 for a 5-600lb steer.
11. I have 5 siblings, all residing in WI.  4 sisters and 1 brother.
12. I have been snowmobiling into a remote lake in Canada for 13 years in a row.  The nearest town in 80 miles away.  The fishing is great and it is always an adventure getting there through at least 6 feet of snow, the most memorable trip took 8 hours to go 2 miles.
13. My Brother Tony and I own three marine repair shops but I have not driven my own boat in 2 years.
14. I am president of the Washburn County Economic Development Corporation.  The goal of the EDC is to expand the business and tax base in Washburn County.
15. Over the Christmas break, we usually take a family vacation somewhere warm to escape the Wisconsin cold for a bit.
16. In high school, I had an old hearse that had been converted to look like an el Camino by chopping the rear to a pickup box and adding a divider behind the front seats.
17. I enjoy hunting and spend a good portion of November deer hunting splitting my time between our Canadian hunting property and our farm here in Wisconsin.
18. I met my wife Jennie in High School and we have been together for 27 yrs and married for 23, she is a Registered Nurse and also a Nursing Home Administrator.
19. My oldest daughter Paige is a Biologist, and I enjoy walking in the woods with her as she describes and names the flora and fauna.
20. My youngest daughter Kourtney is in her last semester of law school and we like to argue politics and business.
21. I have been a Lions member for 10 years and enjoy the opportunity to give back to our community.

If you would like to submit your "21 Things", you may do so by emailing drydenwire@gmail.com (please include at least 1 photo).