Lenore C. Klein
Lenore C. Klein of Riverhead, formerly of Lake Success, died Aug. 20 at the home she shared with her daughter, Laurel Sisson. She was 106.
She was born May 30, 1905, in Brooklyn to Augusto and Viola (Thompson) Capitanio. She attended Erasmus Hall in Brooklyn and graduated from Richmond Hill High School.
While commuting to her job as a secretary for Socony-Vacuum Oil Company, she met her future husband, William H. Klein. They married in 1930 and settled in Richmond Hill. In the depths of the Depression, she helped her husband and his two partners establish the Franklin Company Electrical Contractors, a business that is still family-owned. For several years, she served as the company’s secretary. She stopped to raise the couple’s three children but continued to be involved with the business.
In April 1941, the Kleins moved to Lake Success, a community in Great Neck. Ms. Klein was active with St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Great Neck and the Boy Scouts and taught piano to neighborhood children. In 1959, she and her husband worked together to build a summer home at Barnes Landing in Springs, where the family spent many a happy summer. Her husband died in 1972. She continued to live in her Lake Success home until she was nearly 102.
Ms. Klein traveled extensively, taking a trip around the world in the 1970s. She also was active with the St. Francis Hospital thrift shop through the 1980s.
She delighted in her grandchildren, who loved being with her because she was entertaining and energetic. They remember joining her for expeditions to the 1964 World’s Fair and to Manhattan, picking beach plums and cranberries in Amagansett and relaxing on the beach in Springs.
In 2007, she moved to her daughter’s home in Riverhead, where she read, solved Sudoku and crossword puzzles, played word games and charades and taught her great-grandchildren to play Michigan rummy for money.
Besides her daughter, she is survived by her son Roger, of Rowayton, Conn.; daughter-in-law, Sue Klein of Locust Valley; four grandchildren, Mark Sisson, Deborah Sisson-Bianconi, William R. Klein and Lynn Capstick-Dale; 12 great-grandchildren; and five great-great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her son William T. Klein and grandson Benjamin Sisson.
Visiting hours were held Aug. 23 at Reginald H. Tuthill Funeral Home in Riverhead, with a prayer service officiated by the Rev. Robert Griffin. A graveside service, also officiated by the Rev. Griffin, was held Aug. 24 at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in East Hampton.
Memorial donations may be made to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach, NY 11978 or to Peconic Land Trust, P.O. Box 1776, Southampton, NY 11969.
This is a paid notice.
