40 | JULY 23 • 2020 

Soul
of blessed memory

T

homas I. Klein, 85, of 
Bloomfield Hills and 
Longboat Key, Fla., died 
July 3, 2020.
Tom was a joy to everyone 
who knew him. He was tall, 
handsome, smart, sweet, kind, 
funny, loving and an all-around 
wonderful guy. 
He was born and raised in 
Toledo, Ohio. At the age of 
18, as a popular high school 
senior and an all-state athlete 
in basketball and football, he 
contracted polio. He was on his 
way to Princeton to play basket-
ball when he was stricken. But 
after a year of recovering, he 
went instead to the University 
of Michigan. He always said 
that was OK because otherwise 
he and Linda would never have 
met. They were married in 1961 
after both of their graduations, 
and he went on to live a very 
normal, healthy life for many 
years.
He had so many joys in his 
life: a happy marriage to Linda 
for almost 59 years; three loving 
children and their wonderful 
spouses; six healthy, thriving 
grandchildren whom he loved 
more than life itself and who 
returned his love. “Poppa” was 
a cool dude whom they adored 
and could talk to about all 
things.
Tom enjoyed playing golf. He 
loved his house in Michigan, 
where he celebrated every 
possible occasion with friends 
and family and hosted many 
community events. Most of 
all, he loved life on Longboat 
Key in Florida. He would sit 
on the porch drinking a scotch 
and looking out at the Gulf of 
Mexico. From that porch, with 
a Dewars in hand and enjoy-
ing the sunset, he wrote love 
notes to his kids and grandkids, 
telling them his philosophy of 
life and mostly how proud he 
was of them. He treasured the 

“
new” friendships he made 
during the 20 years that he 
spent in Sarasota and Longboat 
Key.
Tom had two brothers; he 
was extremely close to them, 
their wives and children. He 
often proudly said they had 
never had a fight in their 
lives. He was especially close 
to his niece Deborah Klein of 
Washington, D.C. Last summer, 
Linda and Tom hosted a family 
reunion at their house for the 
children, grandchildren and 
great-grandchildren of Chick 
and Shon Klein, Tom’
s parents. 
Relatives came from as far away 
as Frankfurt, Germany, for 2½ 
days of fun and being together. 
He reveled in Linda’
s family, 
too, first cousins and their kids 
who were good friends as well 
as family and with whom many 
lifecycle celebrations and holi-
days were spent. 
Tom loved a microphone and 
looked forward to celebrations 
of any kind, which gave him 
the chance to create a routine to 
honor whatever was being cele-
brated. Many friends and family 
looked forward to these “
stand 
ups” where, with his twinkling 
eyes and big dimples, he would 
make them laugh until they 
cried. Anyone who was lucky 
enough to count him as a friend 
considered themselves gifted. 
He was a great listener and 
touched people he met even 
once or twice in life with his 
interest in them and his wise 
council. Many of his deepest 
relationships were with people 
who worked for him through 
the years and who respected 
him for his loyalty and caring.
He received his B.A. and law 
degree from the University of 
Michigan. He loved all sports 
and was an active fan of U-M 
football and basketball. He 
began his practice of law in 
Toledo and soon continued in 

Detroit with the law firm of 
Levin, Levin, Garvett and 
Dill. He later left the law and 
joined the Zuckerman family 
business of Velvet O’
Donnell 
Corporation, manufacturing 
famed Detroit brand Velvet 
Peanut Butter and distributing 
beer, wine and liquors. 
He enjoyed traveling. The 
many family trips he and Linda 
took with their children were 
treasured highlights. In midlife, 
they traveled the world, plan-
ning their adventures them-
selves and most always traveling 
alone. Their trips, of course, 
included many to Israel, which 
was a place of love, solace and 
pride to both. 
One huge thrill of his life was 
a beautiful family trip to South 
Africa. It was exciting, and each 
of the kids and grandkids had 
their own special ways of mak-
ing sure Tom was attended to 
and cared for, making sure he 
could get the most benefit from 
everything they did. He loved 
that the whole family gathered 
at the house in Michigan and 
at the condo in Longboat Key 
to celebrate occasions and just 
be together. The fact that they 
wanted to come was treasured 
by him.
In recent years, he began to 
suffer from late effects of the 
earlier polio, but he didn’
t let it 
lessen his good spirits. Whether 
on his walker or, very recently, 

after he had decided a wheel-
chair was the most comfortable 
seat in any restaurant, he was 
still the best company at the 
table and the most charming 
and fun person in the room. 
In the last weeks of his life, he 
participated in a weekly Zoom 
call with his brothers and their 
spouses and niece Deborah just 
to stay in touch in these times 
of COVID. He was also proudly 
and enthusiastically a partici-
pant in a newly formed weekly 
civil rights/social action Zoom 
study group with the two oldest 
families of his children and 
grandchildren.
He was active in the 
Jewish community, having 
served as president of the 
Jewish Community Center of 
Metropolitan Detroit and an 
officer of the Jewish Federation 
of Metropolitan Detroit. He 
served on the board of the 
United Jewish Foundation and 
the Community Foundation 
for Southeast Michigan. He 
was a recipient of the Frank A. 
Wetsman Young Leadership 
Award from the Federation and 
was on the Young Leadership 
Cabinet of the then United 
Jewish Appeal. He was the 
recipient with Linda of the 2015 
Yad Ezra Annual Award and 
supported many other charita-
ble and political causes. Most 
recently, he was deeply involved 
with Linda in the Zuckerman 
Klein Global Unmet Needs 
Centennial Fund at Federation 
and with all the family in 
directing the Zuckerman /Klein 
Family Support Foundation. 
He had a life well lived and 
one which will be held dear 
and treasured by everyone he 
touched. Up to the last, he kept 
a delightful manner despite the 
health issues that brought him 
down. He was an adorable man 
in the literal sense of the word.
Tom is survived by his wife 

A Life Well Lived

