Norman Benjamin Kluger

December 7, 1936 – August 3, 2023 

Norman Benjamin Kluger was a genuinely kind, caring, and loyal person whose warm personality made him friends everywhere he went.  He was born to Louis Waldo Kluger and Katye Rosenfeld Kluger and was the youngest of four children.  He was Louie and Katye’s only son with older sisters Ceilia, Renée, and Ruth. He enjoyed growing up with his sisters and many cousins in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, where his father and uncles owned and ran the general store. 

Norman attended high school at Wyoming Seminary College Preparatory School in Kingston, Pennsylvania, a short trip over the Susquehanna River from his childhood home in Wilkes-Barre.  After graduating from high school, he attended Penn State University in University Park, Pennsylvania, under a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship. He graduated four years later earning a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering.  He then served as an officer in the United States Navy from March 1959 through June 1962.  Upon his honorable discharge from the Navy, Norman made use of his electrical engineering education and accepted a job with General Electric in Philadelphia, where he oversaw the construction of the trains that ran on the Reading Railroad, a network that provided passenger and freight transport to eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states. 

In the summer of 1963, Norman met Phyllis Eileen Rosenthal on the beach in Margate, New Jersey, and was immediately smitten.  Norm was persistent in locating and courting her in Philadelphia.  The couple became engaged on Valentine’s Day of 1964 and married four months later, on June 14.  Norm remained a dedicated and supportive husband for the remainder of his life through 59 years of marriage.  The couple eventually settled in the Philadelphia suburb of Elkins Park and had four children, Allison, Louis, Elizabeth, and Morgan.  Above all, Norman put family first. He was a fun-loving and energetic father who helped build giant sandcastles on the Margate City beach every summer, sang his own made-up songs while driving carpool, told dad jokes, and generally embarrassed his teenaged children at every “appropriate” opportunity. On the more serious side, Norman was always present for, and supportive of, his children whether gently applying a band-aid after dousing the wound with the dreaded “MercuroChrome,” staying awake late into the night to tell stories to a child who could not sleep, reviewing homework assignments, arranging and attending college visits, or providing wise council at critical life decisions. To say he was a dedicated and loving father is an understatement. 

With the responsibilities of a growing family, Norman changed professions, becoming a commercial real estate mortgage broker.  He was well-suited for this type of work given his strong social and mathematical skills.  He helped countless investors and developers obtain financing for their commercial real estate projects.  In his early years as a broker, Norman worked in a three-man firm and commuted by train between Philadelphia and New York City four days a week.  During his hour and a half commutes each morning and evening, his amiable and caring nature helped him make numerous friends and business contacts. After working from New York for the better part of a decade, Norman transitioned to a larger firm closer to home in Center City Philadelphia. Eventually he started his own firm, Norman B. Kluger, LTD., which he ran from the renovated basement of the family home in Elkins Park.

More than two decades from his start as a commercial real estate mortgage broker, Norm shifted careers again to residential mortgage brokerage and moved with Phyllis and his two youngest children Elizabeth and Morgan to Naples, Florida, where he would live for the rest of his life.  In his later years, he treated everyone he met with care as though they were his own children.  He helped non-English speaking clients procure first-time home loans under fair terms at a time when many of his contemporaries were taking advantage of this type of borrower charging above market interest rates and brokerage fees.   

Norm adored his seven grandchildren, who equally loved spending time with their Poppy. He also enjoyed the simple things in life like watching the Eagles on Sunday afternoons while enjoying a pepperoni pizza and beer, eating an apple fritter, which was always offered by his friend the bakery attendant, on each of his four or five weekly grocery store trips, walking and caring for the numerous family dogs, and starting conversations with complete strangers about residential mortgage rates.  Norm will be missed by all who knew him.   

Norman will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery at a date to be determined.  There will be a private Zoom service for close family and friends.

Norman is survived by his wife Phyllis, children Allison Rae, Louis Kluger (wife Camille), Elizabeth Kluger (partner Issac), and Morgan Rudnick (husband Robert) and beloved grandchildren Peyton, Simon, Benson and Piper Kluger, Avery Rae Vaughan, and Teddy and Adam Rudnick.  He is also survived by his sister Ruth Spector. 

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.neptunesociety.com/location/fort-myers-cremation for the Kluger family.