Arlene Kline

Arlene Kline, daughter of Max Katz and Lucille Schneider of Strawberry Mansion Philadelphia, died on May 31, 2024, at 91, after a brief illness. She was predeceased by her beloved husband, Stephen J Kline, the Germantown Friends School financial manager. Arlene lost her mother and was removed from her father's home before age ten, growing up in foster care. Beginning college at age 36, she went on to graduate with a degree in Education at Beaver College and a master's degree in Reading at Villanova with certification in special education. She chose to work with children who were removed from distressed homes and placed in state-funded foster care, where she taught them to read and saw them through to college. She spent the last 20 years teaching English to newly arrived citizens and Reading literacy to high school graduates, enabling them to obtain degrees from Philadelphia Community College. Her many engagements included JCRC of Philadelphia, World Affairs Council, the Philadelphia Orchestra and volunteering at the Walnut Street Theatre.
Arlene’s spirit of social engagement is survived by her children, Mitchell Kline, MD a doctor in Manhattan and Marsha Kline Pruett, PhD (Kyle Pruett MD), Maconda Brown O'Connor Professor of Social Work and Psychology at Smith College. She has five grandchildren and a large extended family of children and great grandchildren of the Pruett family.

Contributions in her memory may be made to Carson Valley Children's Aid in Flourtown, Pennsylvania, or the Jewish Community Relations Council.

Her life will be celebrated on September 8th at 10 am at the Montefiore Cemetery in Jenkintown, PA followed by a Celebration of Life at the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania.