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Fire Claims 'A Loving Person'
BILL CARROLL
Special to the Jewish News
L
isa woke me and told me she smelled
smoke and heard strange noises ... I opened
the bedroom door and the whole house was
on fire ... I ran out and assumed she was following
me, but she may not have realized the severity of
the situation, or she went back to try to save some
pictures. I guess I should have grabbed her and
pulled her out with me."
That's how Jeff Klein describes the horrifying
situation early Friday morning, June 24, 2005,
when a fire killed his wife, Lisa, destroyed their
Commerce Township home and left him with sec-
ond- and third-degree burns on his hands and feet
as he tried desperately to rescue her.
Realizing Lisa had not gone outside with him,
Klein ran to the back of the house and broke open
the bedroom window; but he said the fire was too
fierce for him to enter. Commerce and White Lake
Township firefighters also tried in vain to rescue
her. Fifteen firefighters responded to the 5:30 a.m.
blaze at the all-wood house. built in 1935.
Lisa Klein, 39, was pronounced dead at the
scene. Jeff Klein was treated for burns at Royal
Oak's Beaumont Hospital. According to
Commerce Fire Chief Joe Schornack, it was not
immediately determined if Lisa died from asphyxi-
ation or from burns; the cause of the fire is still
under investigation.
Schornack pointed out there were fireworks in
the house, which Klein said "we were going to
shoot off July 4 on Lower Straits Lake." Fire offi-
cials said the fireworks weren't the cause of the
blaze, although they "hampered the fire-fighting
effort," Klein said. He said they didn't start pop-
ping until much later. Klein said he feels that the
firefighters "did everything they could to rescue
Lisa."
Klein, a graduate of West Bloomfield High
School, met Lisa 10 years ago when he moved to
North Miami Beach, Fla. Lisa, a New York native,
was a waitress at a restaurant where he was a pizza
delivery man. "We got married, and I brought her
to Michigan," he said. "She was my whole life —
there's no way I can replace her. She always made
everyone happy; there was no one else like her."
Klein is staying temporarily with Cheri and
Robert Green of White Lake Township.
Lisa was a medical assistant for Drs. Peggyann
Nowak, Melissa McBrien and Homaira Danish in
the Beaumont Office Building in West
Bloomfield. Many employees in the building
attended the June 27 funeral. In his eulogy, Rabbi
Joshua Bennett of Temple Israel described how
Lisa always had an "open door policy — everyone
was welcome at their home; she was a very warm
and loving person."
He added: "After you engaged in a conversation
with Lisa, you became her lifelong friend."
Lisa Klein is survived by her husband, Jeff; par-
ents, Carl and Merle Seeman of Orlando, Fla.; sis-
ter and brother-in-law, Jerri and Jim Santangelo of
Plantation, Fla.; brother-in-law and sister-in-law,
Steven and Amy Klein of West Bloomfield, and
nieces and nephews, James and Dana Santangelo
and Joshua Klein.
Lisa Klein and her husband, Jeff
Interment was at Clover Hill Park Cemetery.
Contributions may be made to Trustees of
Columbia Memo, Elliott Hyman Research Fund,
c/o Dr. Robert L. Fine, 650 W. 168th St., BB 20-
05, New York, N.Y. 10032, or a charity of one's
choice. Arrangements by Hebrew Memorial
Chapel.
❑
Composer And Poet
LEONARD POGER
Copy Editor
A
lexander David Frank loved celebrating
the Jewish holidays with his family. He
also loved writing poetry and composing
music. Active in the Detroit music scene, he
enjoyed working with and supporting new bands.
"He was a rock-and-roll guy," said his father,
Alan Frank of Franklin.
Sadly, the young man's life and career were cut
short Friday.
Mr. Frank, 29, died June 24, 2005, in his
Franklin home of pancreatic cancer. He was diag-
nosed with the disease last August.
His father, a former general manager at WDIV-
TV and now president of Post-Newsweek Stations,
said Alex was very "outgoing, opinionated and had
a flashy style. He was an iconoclastic person with
friends all over — Chicago and New York."
6/30
2005
84
Alexander Frank
"He was a writer and lived the life of a writer,"
said his father.
Alex celebrated his bar mitzvah at the former
Temple Beth Jacob in Pontiac. The family are now
members of Temple Kol Ami, West Bloomfield.
Alex was a good cook and helped prepare family
meals at holiday time. But his favorite meal was his
mother's potato kugel, his father said.
He was a graduate of Roeper School in
Bloomfield Hills and attended Landmark College
in Vermont.
Alex is survived by his parents, Alan and Ann
Frank of Franklin; brothers and sister-in-law,
Jordan and Denise Frank of Chicago; Benjamin of
Miami; grandparents, Patricia and Ian Hodson of
Canada, Jean Hodson of Canada, Alice Frank of
Pittsburgh. Alex was the beloved grandson of the
late Saul Frank.
Interment was in Franklin Cemetery. Contribu-
tions may be made to the Alex Frank Scholarship
Fund at Berklee College of Music, 1140 Boylston
Street, Boston, MA 02215, Attention: Marjorie
O'Malley. Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel. E1
.