Obituary of Burton Ira Klinger

Burton Klinger was born on November 10, 1937 to Sofie and Samuel Klinger in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, NY. He passed away on November 16, 2023 peacefully in his sleep. He is survived by his wife, Kathryn Klinger, his daughter, Rebecca Klinger, his daughter-in-law, Jessica Weeklund, and his granddaughter, Tegan Klinger-Weeklund. Burt attended Lincoln High School, Hobart College for his undergraduate degree, and Penn State for his doctoral degree. He was a Clinical Psychologist. He worked as a professor in New Hamshire for several years, but he spent most of his professional career in Albany at the Capital District Psychiatric Center where he was the Director of Crisis Services. He also had a private practice. In these settings, he worked with many clients and supervised many practitioners. He touched numerous lives. After he retired from this work, his “second career” was as an amateur photographer. He primarily shot weddings and bar/bat mitzvahs. Touching even more lives.

In his youth, Burt spent many summers as a lifeguard on Coney Island. His love of being on the water continued as he spent time on his boat (“Chinook”) with his wife and daughter on Lake George for many years. Additionally, he traveled to many beautiful places (Thailand, Bali, Beliz, U.S. Virgin Islands, France, and Italy to name a few) and spent time sailing on some of these trips as well. He was the captain with his first mate, his wife Kathy, always by his side. Kathy was the love of his life.

During his various travels, Burt made a point to learn at least some of the language. He (re)learned Hebrew before his trip to Israel with his family, and he learned some Spanish and Italian too. Similarly, when Burt put his mind to do something, he went all in. For example, he taught himself photography by studying extensively and re-learned how to read after a stroke with a lot of hard work. Whenever he was recommended physical therapy, he would say “let’s get to work,” and then he would.

After 9/11, Burt volunteered for the Red Cross and traveled from Albany down to NYC, his “hometown.” He provided psychological first aid/emergency mental health services to survivors and family members related to the Twin Towers attacks.

He loved his dogs: BlackJack, Lilly, Molly, and Augie. He was a dog person through and through. He even combined two of his passions (mental health care and dogs) by having Molly trained as a therapy dog and volunteering at nursing homes with Molly. Bringing joy to so many. He moved with Kathy to Loveland, Colorado in 2017 to be near his daughter, Becky, and her family (Becky’s wife and daughter).

Burt was truly a mensch.