Albert L. Klein

Albert L. "Albie" Klein of South Orange, N.J., and Boca Raton, Fla., who was born in Newark, N.J., in 1917, died on July 10, 2013. The funeral service will be on Sunday, July 14, at 12 noon from the Bernheim-Apter-Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Chapel, 68 Old Short Hills Rd., Livingston, N.J., with interment in B'nai Abraham Memorial Park. Albert Klein was educated at Bucknell University and was a 1940 graduate of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. During World War II, he attained the rank of first lieutenant with the U.S. Army Air Corps and became the first commander of the Weequahic post of the Jewish War Veterans. Albert was chairman of Wharton/Lyon & Lyon, a large, regional insurance agency located in Livingston, N.J., and Tinton Falls, N.J. A prominent member of the insurance community, Mr. Klein held the degree of C.L.U. (chartered life underwriter) and was four times national top producer of the General American Life Insurance Co. and a life member of the Million Dollar Round Table. A very active philanthropist, Mr. Klein was a longtime board member of the United Jewish Communities of MetroWest, N.J., and Jewish Vocational Service, as well as a former chairman of U.J.C. South Orange and chairman of Israel Bonds N.J. He also served as a founder of the scholarship program of the Jewish Vocational Service. Charities benefiting from his giving included U.J.C. of MetroWest; J.C.C. of South Palm Beach, Fla.; Bucknell University; University of Pennsylvania; Memorial Sloan-Kettering, the Weizmann Institute, and Cooper Union. Mr. Klein was the first commodore and founder of the Atlantis Yacht Club of Monmouth Beach, N.J. He was also a member of the Green Brook Country Club of New Jersey and the Bocaire Country Club of Florida. A classic car enthusiast, he was an active member of the Classic Car Club of America and the Antique Car Club's national first place winner when he showed his 1931 Cadillac at Pebble Beach, Calif. He was also a member of the "Academy" of the University of Pennsylvania. Mr. Klein is survived by his wife, Cynthia; his daughter, Penny Stark Bernabei; and his sons, Jaime Klein, Dennis Klein, and Bruce Gilson; as well as by seven grandchildren, Howard and Donald Gilson, Joseph, Becky, and Evie Klein, and Alex and Stephanie Bernabei.