Martin S. Klein, consultant, healthcare planner; at 76
Martin S. Klein, a longtime healthcare strategic planner and consultant, died Monday, May 4 of pancreatic cancer at the Southwood at Norwell Nursing Center. He was 76.
Mr. Klein was born in New York City, and he graduated from the Fieldston School in Riverdale, N.Y., in 1950 and from Harvard University in 1954 with a bachelor's degree in economics.
"He was very bright, and basically sailed through school, and college, and business school, but he was a very modest individual," said Leo Dworsky of Cambridge, who had known Mr. Klein since their middle school years.
In high school, Mr. Klein was often seen with his camera, working for the student paper.
"It was part of his persona to be, unofficially, the school photographer," Dworsky said.
Upon graduation, Mr. Klein went to Australia on a Fulbright Scholarship in an international educational exchange program sponsored by the US government that was designed to increase mutual understanding between Americans and people of other countries. From 1954 to 1955, Mr. Klein studied economics and public administration at the Australian National University.
Relatives and friends said Mr. Klein viewed his trip to Australia as a life-changing experience. Mr. Klein met his future wife Betty (Perks), a native Australian, while he was studying at the university. They married in 1964.
In 1957, Mr. Klein went to Washington for a year to work at the Pentagon as an intern in the US Department of the Navy. At some point, he served on the staff of the Brookings Institution and as staff assistant to the assistant secretary of the Navy.
Mr. Klein took many trips to Africa. Relatives said Mr. Klein often talked about visiting the continent as being a fascinating opportunity to watch colonialism drawing its last breaths. The trips led him to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Fellows in Africa program while he was enrolled in the Harvard Business School, from which he graduated in 1962.
In the 1960s, Mr. Klein served as vice president and director of research at United Research, Inc. in Washington, D.C., directing a variety of studies and consulting assignments dealing with institutional organizations, management, governance, and strategic planning in the United States and abroad.
In the early 1970s, Mr. Klein was the vice president responsible for the Boston Consulting Group's work with nonprofit institutions and government agencies.
In 1973, Mr. Klein founded Institutional Strategy Associates in Cambridge, a consulting firm specializing in planning, governance, and management issues in nonprofit organizations. Mr. Klein was the firm's president until 2005. In that role, Mr. Klein served clients in North America, Central America, Australia, Europe, Asia, and Africa, and his clients included major healthcare organizations, foundations, colleges and universities, and religious organizations.
In 1987, the Aga Khan, the spiritual leader of Ismaili Muslims, offered him the opportunity to revive his interest in the developing world, principally Pakistan, India, and East Africa. Until 2003, he worked with the Aga Khan as a strategic planning consultant and as a volunteer.
Mr. Klein also served as a director or trustee of Mount Auburn Hospital, the Harvard Community Health Plan, the Massachusetts Hospital Association, the Walter E. Fernald State School, and the Visiting Nurse Association.
After their wedding, Mr. Klein and his wife briefly lived in Cambridge before settling in Belmont, where they raised their two daughters. The focus of Mr. Klein's life was his daughters and their families.
He was an avid reader and enjoyed photography, music, traveling, and cross country skiing. He swam at the Belmont Hill Club until his later years. Relatives said they will remember his humor, compassion, honesty, and zest for life.
"He was an incredible spirit," said one of his daughters, Sarah van der Veen of Duxbury.
Mr. Klein dedicated the last two years of his life to tracing his family's Jewish ancestry to Poland. In April 2008, he traveled to Biecz, Poland and found his grandparents' old home.
Mr. Klein loved meeting new people.
"One of his hobbies was making sure he fostered the relationships he had," said his other daughter, Dorothy Ticknor of Evan's Head, New South Wales, Australia. "I've never heard anybody say an unkind word about my father or him say an unkind word about anyone else."
Mrs. Klein died of pancreatic cancer in 1994.
"He remained an optimist," van der Veen said. When he was also diagnosed with cancer, Mr. Klein "never complained or talked about being scared," she said.
In addition to his daughters, Mr. Klein leaves six grandchildren and his companion, Sara Glenn of Tenants Harbor, Maine.
A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. today at the First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist. 