Lee outside their home in Manila, 1938.

Graduation from St. Mary's College, 1950.

About Leonore Iserson Klee
​(April 3, 1928 - September 14, 1996)

After returning to the U.S. from Santo Tomas, Lee graduated as valedictorian from St. Francis de Sales High School in Utica, New York (1946).  She went on to St. Mary's College in South Bend, Indiana, where she earned a B.A., majoring in Economics with a minor in Spanish.  Lee was about to join the Foreign Service and go to Spain in 1951, when she met Richard Francis Klee, a chemical engineer with two degrees from the University of Notre Dame, who swept her off her feet.  (They were both in the wedding party for mutual best friends from UND and SMC.)
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​After a whirlwind courtship, they married (January 1952), settled in Buffalo, New York and quickly had five children (Rick, Mary Beth, Eileen, Dennis, and Doug). "Leonore's Suite" lived in their piano bench all the while, and son Dennis learned to play it.

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Lee and Dick, January, 1952

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Lee with her two daughters: Mary Beth (left) and Eileen (right) 1961 outside their home.

Family Photo 1961 shows Lee seated with Doug on her lap, then left to right: Eileen, Rick, Mary Beth, husband Dick, and Dennis

Lee and Dick, twenty-fifth wedding anniversary photo, 1977.

 Lee earned her M.S. in Library Science in the 1960s and became a dedicated children's librarian.  Throughout her time in Buffalo, she gave many talks on the Santo Tomas experience.  She and her husband Dick moved to South Bend, Indiana in 1986 (to be closer to grandchildren), and Lee returned to St. Mary's, the college she loved, now as a college librarian. She was an enthusiastic participant in the 1995 Santo Tomas reunion in Las Vegas.  She was newly retired from her St. Mary's College position, when she fell ill with pancreatitis.  In an unexpected and heartbreaking turn of events, Lee died on September 14, 1996 at age 68.   We hope that her spirit and story live on in Leonore's Suite.

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About the author:  Mary Beth Klee, Ph.D.

Mary Beth Klee is a historian, educator, and author. As the daughter of teen internee Leonore Agnes Iserson Klee, she grew up listening to stories of Santo Tomas.  Mary Beth holds her Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization from Brandeis University, where she specialized in the revolutionary period and the early republic.  Vitally interested in the History education of America's youth, she is the founder of Crossroads Academy (K-8) in Lyme, New Hampshire and the author of Core Virtues: A Literature-Based Program in Character Education, K-6. (www.corevirtues.net)  Dr. Klee has taught history at Colby Sawyer College (New London, NH) and Salve Regina University (Newport,  RI).  She has edited four U.S. and World History textbooks, and is the author of Leonore’s Suite (2020) and the forthcoming Let's Show Them How Democracy Works!   The Democratic Tradition Alive in a World War II POW Camp. (2026)

Leonore's Suite, published seventy-five years after the liberation of Santo Tomas and twenty-four years after Lee's death,  is a labor of love and the fruit of a decade of research.  Lee wanted to cast the Santo Tomas story as a novel for teens and about the teen experience.  She was raised in humbler times, though, and would never have written a novel about herself.  Mary Beth explains:  "I liked Mom's story and chose to run with it.  This is historical fiction inspired, but not constrained, by true events." The novel is accompanied by extensive Chapter Notes, explaining what is true, how we know it, and what is fiction in the text.

Eileen and Mary Beth at Tagaytay overlooking the Taal Volcano and Lake.

The Main Building at Santo Tomas, 2009

The American Cemetery, Manila

About the Book Designer:  Eileen Klee Sweeney

Eileen is also the daughter of Lee Iserson Klee and grew up listening to her stories. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts at St. Mary’s College, and has worked as a photographer and graphic designer. When she is not traveling with her sister, she is Art Director for the Core Virtues Foundation. According to her sister, she specializes in making everything beautiful.