Henry J. Klein and Wilma Howard Klein

Wilma Howard Klein was born in Monroe County, Ky., on August 12, 1934. Her parents were William and Chloe Miller Howard.

Wilma attended White and Hacker’s Branch rural schools, where her mother was her teacher for most of those years. She graduated from Tompkinsville High School in 1950. Wilma graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1953, with a major in Elementary Education. In 1961, she received her master’s degree from UK.

In 1953, she began teaching in the Jefferson County school system, at Fairdale Elementary, where she taught for four years. In 1957, the school system received a grant to begin instructional television. Wilma did the first telecast in Kentucky in September 1957. She continued in that position for eighteen years; she also worked with the supervisory staff with implementation of the curriculum and the television program.

Throughout her career, Wilma was active in various organizations in the field of education, such as Kappa Delta Pi, the Association for Childhood Education, and many others. She served as an officer in several of the organizations. She also was an adjunct teacher of education at both the University of Kentucky and Indiana University Southeast.

Henry J. (Hank) Klein was born in Earl Park, Indiana, on July 17, 1927. Hank was the son of Henry E. and Elizabeth Bachman Klein.

When Hank was very young, the family moved to Southern Indiana, and his growing up years were spent in New Albany, where he graduated from New Albany High in 1946. Hank and his family went through depression years, and it became necessary to struggle a bit to make ends meet. Hank sold vegetables from his little bicycle up and down the road to neighbors.

Hank served in the Navy during World War II. He worked for Belknap Hardware, for Mitchell’s Men’s store, for the American Tobacco Company and retired as a national buyer for the Kroger company, at their national headquarters in Cincinnati.

In 1974, Hank and Wilma Howard married. They lived in Louisville, where both worked and later in Northern Kentucky, where Hank worked at Kroger’s headquarters and Wilma was principal at Beechwood school. Upon their retirement in 1983, they soon returned to Hank’s hometown of New Albany. Hank began a community service project of putting his woodworking talents to work building toys for the Salvation Army. When he became ill, he gave his woodshop to Borden School, where the students continue his mission by making toys for the Salvation Army’s Christmas distribution annually.

Hank passed away on August 29, 2011, after a long illness. Following the death of her husband in 2011, Wilma concentrated on the joint wishes of the couple: leaving scholarships in memory of their parents and to their respective high schools. In addition, a room in the Martens Alumni Center at Western Kentucky University is named for Hank and Wilma’s parents, and they also supported the Kentucky Museum and Kentucky Library. The joint wills of Hank and Wilma Klein provided scholarships for young people for years to come, with an emphasis on help for those who might not otherwise be able to attend college.