William Klein Sr., Auto Dealer In Everett, Had Soft Spot For Kids

Growing up poor helped make Everett auto dealer William Klein Sr. a wealthy man, says one son.

Born into a large, working-class family in Frederick, Colo., Mr. Klein learned lessons in hard work, humility and generosity while delivering shoes and health products to pay his way through Catholic school.

Such lessons sharpened his commitment to success as well as his dedication to church and family.

"He was an adept businessman, very organized," said his son Steven Klein, owner of Everett's Klein Honda, which his father helped him found. "But (his family) was so poor the church paid for a new roof for their house during the Depression."

Mr. Klein died Thursday (April 8) of heart failure. He was 82.

After high school in Colorado, where he made deliveries for Avon Laboratories, Mr. Klein did bookkeeping for the firm. He worked in newspaper subscriptions and sales at the Denver Post while studying business at Regis University there.

A church scholarship sent him to study law and accounting at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., where he paid for his board by clerking for the FBI. He subsequently earned his bachelor's degree in business administration at Southeastern University in Oklahoma City. Mr. Klein became an FBI special agent there and in other cities, including Denver.

After World War II, he managed sales for a Ford dealership in Denver and ran his own dealership in Montrose, Colo. He was a district sales representative in Seattle in the late 1940s and early 1950s, then managed Ford sales territories in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

He returned to the Northwest in 1960 when a Ford dealership became available in Everett. After running Klein Motors for 11 years, he founded World Wide Lease, dealing in "potato sheds, heavy equipment, airplanes - you name it," his son said.

Along the way he served as president of Everett Chamber of Commerce and as a board member of Everett Trust and Savings Bank.

Mr. Klein enjoyed golf, fishing and hunting, and founded the Klein Family Endowment Fund for high-risk infants at Providence General Medical Center's Children's Center.

"He always had a soft spot in his heart for kids," his son said. "When he was first in Everett he donated money so the kids who didn't make the major Little League teams could have minor leagues to play in."

Also surviving are his wife of 57 years, Dee Klein; son William Klein II of Seattle; sister, Mary Rose of Denver; and two grandchildren.

A Mass was to be held this morning at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Bothell. Donations may go to the Klein Family Endowment Fund, c/o Providence Children's Center, 916 Pacific Ave., Everett, WA 98201.

Carole Beers' phone message number is 206-464-2391. Her e-mail address is cbeers@seattletimes.com