Jodie Lynn Klein

Jodie Lynn  Klein was born on February 2nd 1973 in Harvard, Illinois to her mother Fran  Chism  Bovenmyer and her father Larry Bovenmyer.  She was brought up with her half brother Earl. Jodie lived close to her grandparents Joe and June Bovenmyer who helped raise her.   During her time there her family home burned down and they lost everything. The town rallied and took them in but she was made to feel less than by some of the people in town for having nothing. That event and living through it’s consequences helped shape her whole life. Her father was a Vietnam Veteran and welder. He was well liked man with a Purple Heart and some field decorations but carried with him the behavioral scars of that war.  It is easy to see how she became a social worker.

 Her parents were divorced and her mother moved to Florida with Jodie and her brother when she was twelve.  Fran wanted to start a new life close to two of her sisters Betty and Ruth and their husbands Tommy and Brad. Fran was a single mother in the 1980s with two kids and it was tough at times but with the help of family they were all able to help piece together a life for Jodie and her brother.   Jodie always talked about how much she loved her aunts and uncles for their help and support. This plus her earlier loving care from her Grandmother June and Grandpa Joe helped to make her the phenomenal person she was.   

Jodie graduated from Ft Lauderdale High in 1991 with three years in ROTC. She joined the Army at five feet tall and about 115 pounds. It’s easy to imagine this tiny redhead standing out in basic training. She was always fearless and willing to take on tasks of a much bigger person with a certain joy and an “I told you so attitude,” just to prove she could do it. Feisty is an understatement when remembering Jodie.  

Jodie was married in the Army and had her first child Priscella on April 6th, 1993.  Jodie was stationed in North Carolina, Kentucky and Hawaii during her time served. She became pregnant a second time toward the end of her enlistment period, left the service and returned to Florida where she had her second child Megan on July 17th, 1995 in Sarasota, Fl. , close to family.  And the family offered her enormous support again.  She struggled a bit with two kids and soon a third on the way, Justin born December 22, 1998.  She lived with Fran during that period who dedicated herself to supporting her daughter as well as living with Justin’s father for a time. 

Jodie can best be described as a fierce mother. Her kids were absolutely the most important thing to her….always, and that was that. “Don’t mess with my kids.” was not an uncommon thing to hear from her!

In 1999 Jodie got a part time job as a bookkeeper for a Sarasota company where she met John Klein. He was recently separated and getting a divorce and they became an “item”. An unlikely one, since he was 22 years older than she. They fell in love and at the same thought that their chances staying together for the long term were very slight. They decided to try it anyway and started  a melded family where Jodie welcomed a fourth child from John’s previous life, Kees born July 5th, 1996.  Jodie embraced him quickly and he was the fourth in the “Don’t mess with my kids” fortress in her world. 

The unlikely melded family with a great age difference in the couple and three other parents involved was very complex to navigate and it somehow worked because of Jodie and her skills as a go between, advocate, and fierce defender.  This is where the , Small but Mighty Jodie became real.  She and John were still unlikely but they loved each other and were determined to stay together. 

Jodie always wanted to get a College Degree and the Army’s educational benefits were one of the reasons she joined. So, starting in 2003 or so she started her studies for an associates degree. So, now she was a full time mother of four, part time bookkeeper for a business, full time student, house keeper and wife!  She made it work with help from John and once again her family.  She continued her education and received a Masters in Social work from USF and shortly thereafter got a full time job at the VA Clinic in Sarasota and continued on to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.  She kept up all of her other jobs as well. 

When the kids seemed to be pretty- well grown up Jodie and John considered a move to Hawaii where she had served and always wanted to spend more time.  They had friends there and there was an opportunity there for the business.  She laughed and said, “How hard could it be?”

She arranged a transfer to the VA in Hawaii and stepped right into the HUD-Vash program for homeless Veterans. She loved working with Veterans, next to her family they were the most important thing to her. 

Jodie wasn’t much concerned with wealth, socializing, the Arts or travel . She was fascinated with humans and their relationships to each other as individuals and in society.  In Hawaii she lived in a two story house that overlooked a public park where all kinds of interactions took place. She would watch groups of people and figure out their relationships with each other. She could sus out which were happy and where there was strife without hearing anything said. Just by watching their actions she could determine immense amounts about them. When she traveled  she didn’t need museums or performances. Just a sidewalk café could supply her with hours of pleasure through her people watching. She was amazing at learning about people in  that way. 

She was easy to love-funny, amusing, very smart, quietly a genius on managing people, loving to hers and  committed to helping others, a great, great , great wife and of course mother.

She will always be “Small but mighty.”

A gathering to celebrate her life as well as an Honor Guard and presentation of US flag at a Veterans Cemetery is planned for early in the fall.

A celebration of life will be held on August 15th in Sarasota, at 771 John Ringling Blvd apt. F32 from 2-6pm. Please come to "talk story" about her over food and drink.

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