Jerome Klein

MD Klein, Jerome J.
Jerome Joshua Klein, M.D., a gifted and caring physician to thousands of patients in the Fairfield County area over a 48-year career in medicine, died in hospice care on Sunday in Norwalk, surrounded by loved ones, following a long battle with cancer. He was 84.
Dr. Klein joined the Norwalk Medical Group in 1965 as an Internist with specialties in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. He held privileges at Norwalk Hospital, Bridgeport Hospital, St. Vincent's Medical Center, and Yale New Haven Hospital, among others.
Working in primary care and as a specialist, Klein soon became renowned as a diagnostician—galvanized by the hunt for the correct diagnosis to difficult-to-identify illnesses. "I remember so many of dad's patients saw him in public and said to me, 'You know, your father saved my life.'" recalls son Jonathan.
Jerome Klein was born in 1931 in Brooklyn, NY, the only child of Esther Wohl Klein and David Klein, an accountant. Klein received his B.A. cum laude from Harvard in 1953, and his M.D. from SUNY Health Science Center ("Downstate") in Brooklyn in 1957.
Klein served two years in the Air Force at Offutt AFB in Nebraska, between four medical residencies at New-York-City-area hospitals. In 1965 he joined the Norwalk Medical Group, where he practiced for 38 years—living in Westport until 1983, when he moved to Weston. In 1987 he married Lynne Hummer Klein, his devoted and loving wife of 28 years. He retired in 2002, and they moved to Norwalk in 2011.
His interests included tennis, cooking, gardening, music, history, carpentry and hi-fi audio. "Growing up, there was always classical music in the house, from loudspeakers he'd built," recalls son Dana.
Dr. Klein is survived by his wife Lynne Klein; his sons Dana Klein and his wife Sonya Klein of Darien, and Jonathan Klein and his wife Ellen Petri of Concord, MA; his step-daughters Karen Santora and her husband Jeff Santora of Ridgefield, and Cindy D'Acunto and her husband Thomas D'Acunto of Wilton. He is also survived by eight grandchildren: Rachel, Elana, Hannah and Harrison Klein, Eric Santora, Thomas and Christopher D'Acunto, and Christopher Porter. He is predeceased by his step-son Anthony Ciliberto.
Services will be held at 2pm on Friday, September 25, at Collins Funeral Home, 92 East Ave. in Norwalk. In lieu of flowers, well-wishers and loved ones are encouraged to contribute to the Whittingham Cancer Center at Norwalk Hospital, at: http://norwalkhospital.org/medical-services/cancer/ 24 Stevens St in Norwalk. (203) 852-2148.