THOMAS R. KLEI
1942–2022

Professor Thomas R. Klei, parasitologist at the Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Veterinary Medicine since 1975, died on 18 April 2022 at the age of 79. Dr. Klei was born to Violet Marie and Walter Klei in Detroit, Michigan on 11 December 1942. He received his B.S. in Biology from Northern Michigan University in 1965, where he played offensive lineman for the football team and met and married Rosemary Johnson. He went on to study parasitology at Wayne State University under the direction of Professor Dominic L. DeGiusti, receiving his Ph.D. in 1971 based on dissertation research titled “Studies on Haemoproteus columbae of the pigeon, Columba livia, and the Intermediate Host Pseudolynchia canariensis.” He conducted postdoctoral research on a National Institutes of Health Fellowship at the University of Georgia from 1971–1973 and was an Assistant Professor of Biology at Millersville State College in Pennsylvania from 1973–1975 before...