My brother Jonathan was a true Ralph Lauren boy. Much of our childhood was spent across the street at the original mansion shopping with mom- there was even a blog a former salesperson emailed to us recently, about her being the first person he ever saw talking on a cell phone, while madly shopping with what he referred to as her beautiful blond little boy, who was of course my brother. Jonathan was Ralph Lauren everything – pink blazers, maddress bowties and white pants when he was little, every color cable cashmere, rugby and polo t shirt as he got older. His room was a Ralph Lauren ad. The first present he got his highschool sweetheart was a lavender cable cashmere, because she always wore black, and he wanted her to look more like me and Sabrina, which was so fitting for my brother, because our family was EVERYTHING to him – he even referred to our family with a capital F.
Jonathan was the most incredible athlete, known on the field as captain of the Horace Mann football and lacrosse teams as “Killer Kleier.” It was his passion and excellence in athletics that helped us to name the fund you are all supporting tonight – the Jonathan Kleier ’01 Lion Fund, named for the Horace Mann Lions, Jonathan’s biggest source of pride.
Off the field he was a teddy bear, so incredibly full of love, the sweetest child, kindest young adult, innocent, happy and hopeful, loyal, trustworthy, he saw the best in everyone. It is very fitting that Jonathan’s favorite of all the Ralph Lauren brand was the Teddy Bear line – he had t shirts, towels, bedding. Our boys Chase and Cooper are wearing teddy bear sweaters tonight. Jonathan gave the most incredible teddy bear hugs, he was strong and protective – my family always said if we ever got stuck on a desert island Jonathan was the one we wanted with us – you knew that he could save you.
We lost Jonathan completely out of the blue, at age 26, a little over a year ago, of a virus to the heart called myocarditis. A few months after it happened, my sister and I reached out to our friend David Lauren, because after calling every store and outlet, we were able to find very few teddy bear items, and we were hoping he could help us track some down. What came from that conversation is this most amazing shopping night, which will benefit Jonathan’s fund at Horace Mann. David, and everyone who helped put this evening together, especially Debra Kanibus, Laird Roach and Missy Pool, we cannot thank you enough – our family is completely overwhelmed with gratitude.
We also want to thank all of you for being here tonight -we hope you brought your credit cards to shop tonight, or buy gift cards and use them forever. There are also some very special Teddy Bear items that David was able to bring back to sell tonight, so we hope you will all purchase some in honor of Jonathan.
Although Jonathan is not here physically with us, we are completely positive he is still with us in every other way, and he is so incredibly excited that there is a party at the Ralph Lauren mansion for him tonight. Jonathan, as you always say “Love You!” The Family.
And now, we’d like to introduce the head of Horace Mann and our very close friend, Dr. Tom Kelly.
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