James Walter Klein

James Walter Klein
April 30, 1940 – January 12, 2023

James was born on April 30, 1940 in Appleton, WI where he grew up surrounded by a loving family including his parents, George and Josephine and his two sisters Barbara and Mary Sue. James graduated from Appleton West High School where he played football and spent his free time avoiding class and generally causing trouble. However, this did not stop him from progressing to college where he graduated from the University of Minnesota with an undergraduate degree in Forestry and a master's degree in business. He went on to the military and was stationed in Germany as a Captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. During his time in Germany he and his wife Mary F. Klein had two daughters, Kathleen and Jennifer and eventually repatriated to Virginia and had a third child, Jeffrey. Mary and Jim remained married for 50 years until her death from Cancer in 2012.

Jim got his start in the paper industry in Chicago, IL with Clevepak Corporation and was promoted and moved his family to Irving, TX. He left Texas in 1976 for an opportunity in Milwaukee, WI as President of Wisconsin Paperboard where he took a new paper mill from start up to fully operational with two paper machines and over 300 employees. After moving into a leadership position in the Paper Mill Division for The Newark Group, his next challenge was growing the Recycled Fibers Division throughout the United States. He remained in this role until he retired from the paper industry in the year 2000. He was remembered by many of his former employees and as a tough boss but also a caring, fair person.

Jim and Mary lived in Mequon, WI for 25 years during his professional career. While he spent many days and nights working at his career, he always made time for his family. He coached his sons and daughters' sports teams, took the family on regular vacations, including many camping trips, and made sure to balance family life with work. Jim spent weekends at the family lake house, boating, fishing, eating bratwurst and enjoying the outdoors with extended family. As a lifelong Packer fan, he could be found on Sundays watching and attending the games with his family and friends. Jim loved spending time outdoors and enjoyed camping, fishing and hunting and continued these activities throughout his life. He took regular fishing and hunting trips with his son and later taught his grandson to enjoy hunting and fishing on these trips as well. He could always be found doing projects at his house as well as helping his daughter Jennifer renovate her home in Denver. Jim was baptized in the Catholic Church, an altar boy growing up and remained active throughout his life, never missing a Sunday service.

Jim lived with his daughter Kathy in Fort Collins, Colorado and remained active until his death. His family visited regularly in his last year while his mind and body were failing him. He did not want to spend his last days in other's care and ultimately passed away in his sleep. There were only more difficult times ahead for him and he is now in a better place. Jim is survived by his children, Kathleen Klein of Fort Collins, Jennifer Klein of Denver and Jeffrey Klein and wife Kristi and their children, Hunter, Chloe and Karina of Ladera Ranch, California as well as his sister Barbara Hirn of Neenah, Wisconsin.

Jim loved his dogs and his grandson has Type 1 diabetes. His family requests in lieu of flowers, please donate to one of the following charities – Humane Society or Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).

JDRF

https://www2.jdrf.org/site/TR?px=1905174&pg=personal&fr_id=8892&et=n_11Mk52s414sQGLe1NcFEpWCGJhTOw3WmfKBZJWGNr5KalnM2ZGWA&s_tafId=1138125&s_src=P2PParticipantCenter&s_subsrc=Email

Humane Society

https://secured.humanesociety.org/page/83528/donate/1?ea.tracking.id=ad_gg_slink_gift_donation&en_txn10=ad_gg_cpc_237076442_17383383962_634206280276_animal%20charities&en_og_source=ad_gg_fndr_gd_83528_hsus&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gclid=Cj0KCQiA_bieBhDSARIsADU4zLciC1i7PkBruL-AcmtI8MMj7V6RAmUY9zBiLe8kXgj7VmEv6o9oMnsaAld9EALw_wcB

A Memorial Service will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church, 300 W. Mountain Ave., Fort Collins, CO at 10:00 am on Saturday, May 20, 2023.