Stuart Robert Klein

Stuart Robert Klein, a longtime basketball coach and loving husband, father and grandfather who brought a playful spirit to passions ranging from youth sports to low-stakes poker, passed away on May 22, 2023, at the age of 76.

Stu was above all a teacher - a professor of health and physical education at Nassau Community College for more than 30 years, and a mentor to a generation of basketball players and coaches on Long Island. He retired in 2003 but continued to work at Nassau as an adjunct professor until 2017, and was inducted to the Nassau Community College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012.

A Division One scholarship point guard, he was the head men's basketball coach at Nassau from 1974-1996, where he amassed more than 300 wins. He coached the Lions to the regional championship in 1990, leading them to their first ever appearance in the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament.

He also taught through the spirit he shared with friends and family - a spirit of devotion, service and joy that stayed with him through various health setbacks that ultimately contributed to his death.

Stu is survived by his wife of 47 years, Esther (Canetti) Klein; his son Rick Klein, the political director of ABC News, and his wife Laine Kaplowitz, of Washington, D.C.; his son Joel Klein, a teacher in the Brookline, Mass., public-school system, and his wife Kayla (Rogers) Klein, of West Roxbury, Mass.; his siblings, Bruce Klein and Laurie (Klein) Nelson; and four grandsons - Jack, Max, Robert, and Edward.

He was born on September 10, 1946, in Brooklyn, to Rubin Klein and Ruth (Weiss) Klein, who preceded him in death.

Stu and Esther met at a party in 1974. They married and bought a house in West Babylon together in 1975, and raised their sons in that home that they shared for the remainder of his life. Stu fondly recalled his time at sleepaway camps in the Catskills, where he and Esther would buy a second home that their family and friends have cherished for decades.

Stu graduated from Martin Van Buren High School in Queens and went on to earn degrees from Nassau Community College in 1966 and from Northern Arizona University in 1969, which he attended on a basketball scholarship. He obtained a master's degree in physical education from Adelphi University in 1971.

His long career included leading the Long Island men's basketball team in the Empire State Games in 1978 and 1979, and coaching at the International Games for the Disabled in 1984. At Nassau, he developed a specialty in adapted physical education, and also did work at the Henry Viscardi School, where he worked with students with physical challenges.

He coached his sons' youth baseball teams, and served as president of the Babylon Little League for several years in the early 1990s. His "Blood and Guts" poker group began with a group of recent college graduates and continues to this day, its frequency fading from twice a week to once a month but its cigar and libations budget unchanged.

When he wasn't teaching or coaching, Stu was an avid Yankees and Knickerbockers fan and a passionate Mickey Mantle collector. He kept score at baseball games, tore through word-search books and insisted on framing the many puzzles he completed.

He may or may not have shared courts with Julius Erving and John McEnroe, and he insisted he could beat Michael Jordan one-on-one well into his 40s. He loved Diet Peach Snapple and hot chocolate and ate one meal a day left-handed, to help his dribble.

A memorial service for Stu will be held at 11 am on Thursday, May 25, 2023, at Jerusalem Memorial Chapels, 3026 Hempstead Turnpike, Levittown, N.Y. The family will sit shiva immediately following and on Friday at 175 Hawthorne Ave., West Babylon, N.Y.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Nassau Community College Foundation or the New England Hemophilia Association.