Frances Kathryn Klein

Frances Kathryn Klein née Popolizio passed peacefully May 23, 2019 at her son’s home in White Rock, NM. She suffered for decades from the many complications that accompany Parkinson’s Disease. She joins her husband, Milton Henry Klein. Frances was born on May 3, 1926, in Clifton, New Jersey to Jane Elizabeth Popolizio née Woodcock and Thomas Anthony "Tommaso Antonio" Popolizio. She also joins her siblings and one of their spouses, Mary Elizabeth, Dorothy Jeanette, Esther Gertrude with Andrew Marhefka, and Joseph Henry.

She graduated from Passaic School of nursing in 1946, and worked as a nurse at Providence Hospital in El Paso, TX to put Milton through college. She continued to work as a nurse at St. Francis Hospital in Carlsbad, NM until the birth of her son.

She later went on to manage the Cerebral Palsy Center for the Elks for several years. She helped form the meals on wheels program for the Carlsbad community through the Episcopal and Presbyterian church councils, and helped deliver meals. She was also a member of the Episcopal council and worked for hospice. After that she worked at the State Alcoholism Hospital to support her family when her husband took ill and was disabled by heart disease. She was caregiver for her mother-in-law (Bess Klein) for 12 years.

She loved going to the beauty salon. It was a sad week if she didn’t get to have her hair curled. Family trips would begin on Thursday and end by Tuesday, because she was going to be at her appointment on Wednesday. It was of the utmost importance. She also loved reading, her favorite genre being Mysteries. There were tons of detective novels all over her house when she moved. And later on we would catch her napping with her Kindle in her hand, exhausted from devouring her latest book.

Frances is loved and remembered by her son and his wife (Thomas and Ruth Klein), grandchildren (Tamie and her husband Aaron Andrews, and Michael Klein), sister-in-law (Frances Popolizio née Martin), nieces (Edith Sinclair, Nancy Moore, and Lois Walker) and all the extra family she picked up along the way like her niece (Debbie Martinez and her husband Jonathan Lieman), caregiver (Diane Martinez), and many more.

Services are at Carlsbad Cemetery Tuesday June 11 at 11am.

Instead of flowers, she had requested that donations be made to Carlsbad Battered Families Shelter.