In Memory of Aaron Klamut
by: Aaron Beck
Photo: Michelle Maguire
Aaron Matthew Klamut—a woodworker, musician, traveler, cook, multilingual speaker, listener and learner who applied an artist’s touch and a craftsman’s precision to everything he did—died on July 21 at his home in Columbus, Ohio.
He was 40 years old.
The cause was the aggressive form of brain cancer known as glioblastoma multiforme, which Aaron and his loving family and partner Ianna Kristiansen had fought with the Neuro-Oncology Department at The James Cancer Hospital since late last year.
Aaron was born on August 16, 1977, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Maralee “Mattie” Rodgers (née Slusarczyk) and David Klamut.
As he was graduating from Lakewood High School in 1995, Aaron told his guidance counselor that his immediate destiny was to be a card dealer on the Riviera.
The counselor, impressed not only by Aaron’s chutzpah, maturity, precocious social skills and adventuresome nature, saw in Aaron a model U.S. ambassador. She recommended him for a Rotary exchange program, suggesting that he make his way to Europe and let the cards fall where they may.
Aaron landed in Austria, where he continued his studies at a high school in the city of Bregenz. He learned to speak the region’s specific dialect and spent time traveling throughout France, the Czech Republic, Germany and Italy. He dealt no cards during his time abroad, but the experience helped him make his next move stateside.
Aaron studied German at The Ohio State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in 2000. He then worked for several merchants in and around the North Market, including Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, North Market Poultry & Game and Benevolence Cafe.
A bassist and drummer, he played and toured in the bands American Jobs, Jam Division, Tigers in the Mirror and Nathan Snell & the Country Sound. When he wasn’t playing music or working, he was improving and enriching the lives of everyone he met.
Contributing to the culture of Skylab, the downtown Columbus gallery, performance space and co-op. Sharing meals with friends. Competing in pinball tournaments. Sharpening knives. Perfectly carving chickens. Climbing trees. Building custom furniture and art frames. Changing the brakes on the Econoline work van he customized. Helping friends and family with whatever they needed help with. Making various forms of music. Studying languages. (In addition to German, Aaron spoke fluent Portuguese and was studying Spanish to enrich his travels to Argentina for visits with his partner Ianna’s family.)
Every moment he lived was an opportunity to grow.
“The only thing I ever heard him complain about was not having enough hours in the day to pursue all his interests,” said Aaron’s mother.
Aaron’s father David said, “At every stage of his life, Aaron always amazed us. I could not be more proud of the man he grew up to become.”
In 2005, Aaron began to work alongside woodworker Kevin Brubaker, a carpenter and cabinetmaker who specializes in one-of-a-kind house and barn restorations in central Ohio.
“Anything he had an interest in, he’d excel at it,” said Brubaker. “He was naturally good with tools and he knew a lot about electronics because of his music background, so I put him to work.
“A lot of my clients have the money to do a lot of creative things, and I eventually just turned over the artistic elements of the jobs to Aaron. He’d come up with something, and all the little touches would be amazing. It was a total student-becomes-the-teacher thing. All of our best stuff, Aaron touched.
“But I was always also impressed how he treated all people with equal respect. At first I thought, well, it’s because he was raised by cool hippies, but it went so much deeper than that. Every single person whose house Aaron was in was immediately drawn to him.”
On two occasions, Aaron helped remodel portions of Dr. Kelly Conklin’s house in Victorian Village.
“He always had such strong opinions about food, about a solution to a problem, about aesthetics,” Conklin said. “But at the same time, he was so easygoing and curious and open-minded.
“Kevin has a lot of recurring customers and he’d always hear something like, ‘Ok, and when you come back, is Aaron coming with you?’ He brought such a buzz. He was just a fun person to talk to about everything and he was always a wealth of information and inspiration.”
In addition to Ianna, his partner of 10 years, Aaron is survived by his mother Mattie, of Cleveland; his father David and his stepmother Theresa Fredericka, of Lakewood; Ianna’s parents Mary and Peter Kristiansen, of Buenos Aires, Argentina; his beloved dogs Nola and Ellie; Mama, his hilarious cat; and all of the friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers fortunate enough to have shared the world that Aaron electrified with his combination of quiet, poetic power, graceful physicality and immense, understated cool.
“Everything he did, he did with purpose and determination and he did everything on his own terms,” said Jimmy Mai, Aaron’s lifelong friend. “I think he always knew his time was short, which is why he always took in as much as he could.”
Donations may be made in memory of Aaron to The James Cancer Hospital, Glioblastomas Multiforme Brain Tumor Research Fund by clicking here.