Alfred Richard Klapperich was born on 14 April 1921 in Conde, South Dakota to Edward and Deneige Almeda (LaBrie) Klapperich. He was the eleventh of fourteen children in his family. He attended elementary school at Benton Township School No. 3 [Cranefield School] in Spink County, South Dakota. He then went to Redfield High School, Redfield, South Dakota, for two years before graduating from Conde High School, Conde, South Dakota, in 1940.

Pursuing his vocation, he attended Saint Bernard Minor Seminary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota from 1941-43 then on to Saint Bernard Seminary in Brighton, Michigan [Marian Missionaries]. He was a novice with the Marian Missionaries from February 1945 to January 1946. He discerned that his vocation was with the Dominicans and was received into the Dominican Order on 17 September 1946 and given the religious name Giles. He made his first profession on 18 September 1947 and his final profession on 18 September 1950 both at Saint Thomas Aquinas Priory in River Forest, Illinois.

Father Klapperich continued his studies for the priesthood at the Dominican House of Studies in River Forest, Illinois from 1947-51, then to the College of Saint Rose in Dubuque, Iowa until 1954. He was ordained to the priesthood on 26 May 1953 at Saint Rose of Lima

Priory in Dubuque, Iowa by Bishop Loras.

The first assignment Father Klapperich received was as Assistant Pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in Minneapolis, Minnesota from 1954 to 1955, then was the chaplain at Saint Clara Convent at the Dominican Motherhouse in Sinsinawa, Wisconsin for a year. From there he went to Boyce, Louisiana as Assistant Pastor of Saint Margaret Parish from 1956-60. He again served as Assistant Pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Mangum, Oklahoma for one year.

Father Klapperich was called to the missions in 1962 and served in the Vicariate of Nigeria for sixteen years at Yaba, Gusau, and Sokoto. He held a variety of positions such as Assistant Pastor, Vicar Provincial, Pastor and Rector of the Holy Family Cathedral in Sokoto. Father Klapperich was an organist and choir director. There is a youth choir named after him. He returned to the United States in 1978 and again served as Assistant Pastor at Saint Anthony of Padua, New Orleans, Louisiana (1978-79) and Holy Rosary Parish, Minneapolis Minnesota (1979-83). From 1983-93 he was chaplain at Saint Marys Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. From 1993-95, he served the community as prior of Holy Rosary Priory, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was the last prior as the priory closed in 1995 after over one hundred years. He then moved to River Forest, Illinois and served as Assistant Pastor of Saint Vincent Ferrer Parish from 1995-99.

In 1999 at the age of 78 he went on limited service and lived at the Dominican Ashram in Kenosha, Wisconsin until moving to Denver, Colorado in 2002. He wanted to live with the novices in his later years in Denver. He remained in Denver until March of 2005 when he relocated to our assisted living community at Saint Pius V Priory in Chicago, Illinois. His health continued well until December 2014 at which time he was hospitalized with the flu from which he recovered very slowly. He eventually was transferred to Resurrection Life Nursing Center, Chicago, Illinois. He was diagnosed with liver cancer in the Fall of 2015. He continued to decline and was placed on Rainbow Hospice Services at Resurrection Life Center in November 2015. He died peacefully early on the morning of 19 December 2015 at the age of 94.

Father Klapperich was the last of his many siblings to die. He is survived by over one hundred nieces, nephews and cousins from several generations of the Klapperich Family. Services were held at Saint Vincent Ferrer Church in River Forest, Illinois on Wednesday, 23 December 2015. Mass of Christian Burial was at 10:00AM preceded by Sung Morning Prayer at 9:00AM. Father James V. Marchionda, O.P., Prior Provincial, presided and preached. Funeral arrangements were handled by Smith-Corcoran Funeral Home. He was buried in the Dominican Section at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois.