November 29, 1936 - March 29, 2024
Retired United States Navy Master Chief Electronics Technician William (Bill) Raymond Klein received his final orders on 29 March 2024 and is proceeding, as directed, to a destination known only to his Supreme Commander. And no, as much as he would like us to believe, Barack Obama is not the Supreme Commander.
Bill was born in Billings, Montana, on 29 November 1936, the son of John and Elizabeth Klein. He grew up in Laurel and was educated in the “Locomotive” school system. After graduation in 1954, he attended one year at E.M.C.O.E. before enlisting in the Navy in October of 1955.
After Navy Boot Camp, he attended Electronic Technician “A” school at Treasure Island, California, and upon graduation received orders to the USS Kearsarge CVA/CVC-33 where he spent 41 months maintaining shipboard radar systems. He returned to civilian life in 1960 where he spent the next eleven months deciding what career path to pursue next. In the process he met his shipmate for life, Mary Judith Slowinski, and together they decided to return to the Navy and make it their career.
And what a career it was. They were stationed at various military installations and lived in the following states: California, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia, and Maryland. They were also stationed in Newfoundland, Canada, and at Naval Station Adak, Alaska. Bill also served on the USNS Dutton TAGS-22 and the USS Observation Island EAG-154.
Bill retired from the Navy in November of 1981, after 26 years of service. He then went on to work for several government service contractors maintaining shipboard and land-based Air Traffic and was “thrown overboard” by one of the contractors in favor of younger and lower waged individuals. He and his shipmate, Judy, then decided to move west to Spokane, Washington, and seek employment with the FAA where 200 job openings were available in a seven-state western area. He was put at the top of the hire list where he remained while the FAA proceeded to fill these positions with younger applicants. This time, however, Bill refused to take age discriminatory practices laying down and filed a lawsuit with the assistance of Spokane attorneys Greg Arpin and Rich Mount. After a trial in Federal Court, the outcome of which determined that the FAA was indeed guilty of age discriminatory practices, Bill took his settlement and retired for good in the Eastern Washington community of Suncrest.
Bill is survived by his wife, Judy, at the residence in Suncrest; his son, Jon, and his wife, Melissa; and grandchildren, Alexander, Mary Elaine, Lewis, Adam, and Casey of Macon, Georgia. His daughter, Lindsey Byers, and her husband, Kurt of Crystal, Minnesota; and grandsons, Jordan Moore of Burnsville, Minnesota, and Connor Moore of Suncrest, Washington. Bill also has one surviving sibling, Carol Cirricione of Jackson, California. He was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Jonathan; and his sister, JoAnn Kessler
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