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Concerning the Death of Elliott Kurt Klein


Following is a letter dated August 2, 2010 from Terry Gaiser, W6RU.  Terry is Chief Engineer of the Buck Owens' Radio Stations in Bakersfield, CA -- KUZZ AM/FM and KCWR(FM).


When I first heard about [the death of Elliott Klein] from a mutual friend here in Bakersfield, I immediately called his wife Nancy.  My wife and I used to go over to Elliott's every summer and take in a Dodger's / Diamondback's baseball game with the two of them -- been doing that for about the last 10 years.  Nancy was in shock.  She could not believe what had happened of course.

Elliott had told me earlier last week he was coming over to California to pick up a special edition Mercedes he was buying and he would be coming through Bakersfield he thought Friday or Saturday.  I called him Saturday morning to see if he was near town and he told me he was in Reno because the dealer wanted to deliver the car to him there to avoid charging California sales tax.  He told me he was expecting the dealer in about an hour.  He then told me he was having breathing problems -- couldn't walk very far before having to stop to get his breath.  I told him it was probably due to the elevation up there.  He then told me it has been an oncoming problem for a few months and he was going to the doctor today (Monday) to get it checked out.

Nancy told me he got home from the trip a little after midnight Saturday night [technically Sunday morning, August 1, 2010].  He took her outside to show her the car and when they came back into the house he started complaining about how he was having a hard time breathing.  He laid down on the couch to rest and Nancy went into the kitchen to get him something to drink.  She returned to the couch and he was not breathing at all.  She called 911 and started giving him CPR 'till the Paramedics arrived.  They worked on him to the hospital and they worked on him more there.  The doctor told her he was DOA.  The Doctor added that some people stop breathing and that stops the heart.

That's all I know at present....  Elliott and I go back to when he first started with Buck in the early 70s.  He was like a brother to me and we spent a lot of time together around broadcasting.  It took me 20 years to convince him to get a Ham license, [but once he did] we went to a lot of Ham conventions together and I had a LOT of fun with him over the last almost 40 years.  I will miss him both professionally and as a good friend.

w6ru (at) atginternet.com

 

Posted by Steve Blodgett
Earthsignals.com