Frederick Emil Klett Jr., 79, died June 14 at Somerset Medical Center, Somerville.
A resident of Hopewell for the last 43 years, he was active in several civic and community organizations.
Born in Elizabeth, he moved with his parents from Elizabeth to Roselle Park, where he attended the public schools and was a three-sport letterman in high school athletics. In football, he was an offensive and defensive end and was named to the All-State Group II First Team. He co-captained the wrestling team, and in his weight class, won the state championship in his junior and senior years. Playing shortstop and pitcher in baseball, he was selected for the Intra-County League All Stars and received recognition in the All-State selections of 1946. In 2000, he was an inaugural inductee into the Roselle Park Athletic Hall of Fame.
A 1950 graduate of Dartmouth College, he was wrestling team captain, a light heavyweight boxing champion and member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity.
Mr. Klett served in the U.S. Army during the Korean Action, enlisting in 1951. After completing training at Fort Monmouth, he was stationed in La Rochelle, France, as a signal supply officer. He was honorably discharged from the Army as a 1st lieutenant.
Mr. Klett and his family moved to Hopewell in 1964 and opened his home to his wife’s parents, the late Theodore K. and Clara (Pierson) Fish, both of whom resided with his family until their deaths.
Following his military service, Mr. Klett made a career in real estate and state government service, and also worked in retail sales at different times in his life. He was personnel director at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital and Montclair State College, and for the New Jersey departments of Education and Law & Public Safety. He retired from state service in 1991. Mr. Klett also was a partner, with his wife and her cousin James H. Hall, in Hall & Klett Realty of Hopewell. While this firm dissolved many years ago, he maintained his licenses as a real estate and insurance broker until recently.
Mr. Klett also served on the Hopewell Valley Regional Board of Education and the Hopewell Borough Zoning Board of Adjustment. He sponsored and coached Little League teams and was a Boy Scout leader. He was a member of Hopewell Valley American Legion Post 339, the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Hopewell Fire Department and other local groups.
Son of the late Frederick E. Sr. and Grace (Papa) Klett, he is survived by his wife of nearly six decades, Florence A.; four sons and daughters-in-law, Frederick E. III and Jean of Glenside, Pa.; Theodore M. and Roxanne of Hopewell; Kenneth E. and Laurie of Holland, Mich.; Joseph R. and Kimberly of Princeton; a daughter, Kathryn M. of Hopewell; a sister and brother-in-law, Grace and Roy Lurcott of Boca Raton, Fla.; 14 grandchildren: Nathan, Aña, Natalie, Nicole, Faith, Adelena, Leah, Susannah, Abigail, Alexander, Kenneth, Jonathan, James and Nathaniel; and many nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.
Calling hours will be held from 7-9 p.m. today (Monday) at the Cromwell-Immordino Memorial Home, 71 E. Prospect St., Hopewell.
There will be a Hopewell Valley American Legion Post 339 service at 7:30 p.m.
Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Princeton Community Church, 2300 Pennington Road, Hopewell Township, followed by interment at Highland Cemetery, Hopewell.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Hopewell Fire Department, Emergency Medical Unit, P.O. Box 215, 4-6 Columbia Ave., Hopewell, 08525.
