Phyllis (David) Kline

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our dear mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, Phyllis (David) Kline, who passed away peacefully on March 10, 2025, one month shy of age 99. Phyllis was the beloved wife for 62 years of the late Herbert (Herby) Kline, her high school sweetheart, until his passing in 2009.

Phyllis lived her entire life in Malden, before moving to Brooksby Village in Peabody in 2011. She attended Malden Public Schools, where she made many lifelong friends. It is said of Phyllis that if you became her friend, you were her friend for life.

She graduated from Chamberlain School of Retailing in Boston in 1945, majoring in business and fashion. After graduation, she landed a job at Gilchrist Department Store in Boston as a comparative shopper, where she got paid for doing something she loved, shopping. She worked there until she had her first child in 1948, and she became a stay-at-home mother. Later in life she worked for Life Insurance Company of Boston for a few years.

She and Herby led active lives together. Within the first six years of their marriage, they had three children, Arleen, Susan, and Richard. A few years later, they welcomed Phyllis’s cousin Sandra, who had just finished high school, into their home for three years. Thirteen years after Richard was born and Arleen was heading off to college, Joyce was born. It is said that Joyce kept our mother young.

Phyllis and Herby were lifelong members of Temple Tifereth Israel in Malden, assuming many key roles on various committees and the Couple’s Club. Phyllis was active in the Temple’s Sisterhood and Hadassah. She also volunteered at Malden Hospital for several years. She and Herby traveled to many exciting places, including several trips to Israel. She enjoyed reading, playing mahjong, and making pottery.

But Phyllis was happiest surrounded by family. She checked in every evening with each of her children with her signature, “so what did you do today.” Holidays and special events were times to gather our extended family around Phyllis’s large dining room table. Her grandchildren and great-grandchildren gave her tremendous joy. She especially looked forward to weekly visits from her twin great-grandchildren, Harrison and Greyson. Phyllis’s long telephone extension cord enabled her to keep in close touch with family members and lifelong friends, while she multi-tasked around her house on Hawthorne Street. Family and friendship meant everything to her. She had a very special relationship with her aunt, Auntie Nett, who was like a sister to her.

Phyllis is survived by her children, Arleen Kline and her husband Jack Stierer; Susan Kline-Symington; Richard Kline, and Joyce Kline; grandchildren, Gregg Kline and his fiancé Pui Chi Wong; Dr. Scott Kline; Ashley Symington; Marc Symington and his wife, Liz, and Andrew Stierer; great-grandchildren, Harrison and Greyson Kline; brother Lloyd David; nieces Paulita David and her husband Michael Jolly, and Sari David and her husband Josh Katz, and a large extended family and friends. Besides her husband, Phyllis was predeceased by her parents, Max and Pauline (Cohen) David; her sister Harriett David; her sister-in-law Lucia Mayerson-David, and her son-in-law John Symington.

Her children would like to give special thanks to her Brooksby friends who made her thirteen years there so enjoyable, and who looked after her as her health declined. We would also like to thank Celestine Sarpong and Elizabeth Dicko who lived with our mom and gave her excellent care and companionship during her last few months. We would also like to thank home care aides Sonyse Edouard Belmont, Ayan Mohamud, and Lillie Feliz, who made it possible for our mom to stay in her home.

Funeral services were held on March 13, 2025. Condolence calls can be made to the family Sunday, March 15, 2025 at Phyllis’s home, 104 Brooksby Village Drive, West Wind Terrace Unit 408, Peabody, MA from 2 pm to 8pm.

Our family is suggesting that donations be made in Phyllis’s memory to the Beetham Eye Institute at Joslin Diabetes Center, One Joslin Place, Boston, MA 02215 or https://joslin.org/, or The Lucia Mayerson-David Endowment Fund, 100 Morrissey Blvd., Boston, MA 02125, http://umb.edu/lmds or Temple Tiferet Shalom, 489 Lowell Street, Peabody, MA 01960, https://www.templetiferetshalom.org/ or to a charity of your choice.

May the memory of Phyllis be a source of strength and a blessing.