She Keeps the Flame Burning for Literacy

On a balmy spring evening two years ago, Ethel Klein was handed the Olympic torch, which she carried with pride down Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica on the first leg of the torch relay that ended at the Atlanta Games three months later.

“It was the most exciting day of my life,” Klein said. “I still get goose bumps thinking about it.”

Equally enthralled with Klein’s honor were the scores of students and colleagues who had worked side-by-side with the community volunteer in the literacy program she established five years ago at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Woodland Hills.

Klein’s impact on the Skills Enhancement Program--a free tutoring program in literacy, math and citizenship--was brought to the attention of the Olympic Committee, which selected her and several other community activists to carry the flame for six city blocks of the cross-country relay.

Klein, 75, says her community-outreach work allows her to meet people from all over the world, and to her, there is no greater pleasure.

“I love people, and at the same time I feel I’m accomplishing something for the community,” the Calabasas resident said. “The work I’ve done has made my life worthwhile.”

Klein first offered her services to Kaiser in 1986, when the medical complex opened in the West Valley. She volunteered in the emergency room and then in the oncology department, where she comforted cancer patients.

In 1993, responding to Kaiser’s desire for community outreach, Klein created the literacy program offering free one-on-one tutoring to students who come from as far away as Thailand and Ethiopia, as well as to the kids at Serrania Avenue Elementary School in Woodland Hills.

The Skills Enhancement Program offers citizenship and sign-language classes as well as math and English lessons. A summer tutoring program is available for local students, and a popular water-coloring class now has a waiting list for admission.

“Ethel’s the spark that made this take off, and she’s the one who keeps it going,” said Vi Hutchens, a tutor trainer for the San Fernando Literacy Council. “She inspires the tutors and the students. She’s a dedicated person who believes in the work she’s doing.”

The Los Angeles native can’t remember a time when she wasn’t involved with the community.

After graduating from Venice High School in 1941, she worked for the War Department in Washington and then the Internal Revenue Service in Los Angeles.

Klein met her husband, Joseph, in Boyle Heights following her graduation. They married in 1943 and settled in Los Angeles after the war to raise two daughters.

A Valley resident since 1976, Klein began her volunteer service after retiring from a 13-year career with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

She was honored as Kaiser’s 1993 Volunteer of the Year for her compassionate work with cancer patients.

The Kaiser Medical Center in Panorama City has adopted Klein’s literacy program, and several other hospitals in the statewide system are ready to sign on as well.

“Ethel is the spearhead that keeps our program going, even in the down times,” said Roseanne Green, office manager for the Valley Center for Learning in Panorama City. “She’s always there, even on her days off, just to help out. The students adore her and Kaiser thanks her. She’s a great human being.”

Personal Best is a weekly profile of an ordinary person who does extraordinary things. Please send suggestions to Personal Best, Los Angeles Times, 20000 Prairie St., Chatsworth 91311. Or fax them to (818) 772-3338. Or e-mail them to valley@latimes.com