Hy Kloc, a longtime fixture in the Boise community, has died from a heart attack, according to the Idaho Democratic Party. He was 75.
Kloc served three terms in the Idaho House of Representatives as a Democrat representing the state’s capital city. He also served as an elected member of the Greater Boise Auditorium District and as president of the Idaho Humane Society Board.
The child of Holocaust survivors, Kloc was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany. Shortly after World War II, Kloc and his family emigrated to New York City where his father eventually became a baker.
He came to Boise in 2001 when he accepted a job with Boise State Public Radio, eventually becoming the station’s development director.
Kloc unsuccessfully advocated for publicly funded pre-k education during his time in the legislature, as well as for animal welfare.
While it didn’t pass while he was in office, Idaho lawmakers eventually approved a bill establishing pet friendly-themed license plate, with proceeds going to the Idaho Humane Society.
In a recent interview with Idaho Public Television, Kloc spoke about the importance of community involvement and for standing up to the growth of Holocaust denialism.
“These people, you can’t really talk to,” he said. “The more I see going on today, the more dire I think the situation is. You can’t just turn your head away and say, ‘Well, that’s nothing.’”
Kloc stepped down from his legislative seat in 2018 for health reasons.
"My kidney was cancerous and my adrenal gland was cancerous,” he told Boise State Public Radio’s Samantha Wright in an interview at the time, noting he previously had no symptoms or pain.
“No more than getting old,” he quipped.
“If it wasn’t for this cancer, I’d be really healthy, let me tell you,” Kloc said at the time. “My doctor said I’d be really healthy if I didn’t have cancer.”
Another of his life accomplishments was inventing a new type of drum that he told Boise Weekly was “very” profitable. Kloc said he named it after an Argentinian saxophone player named Gato Barbieri.
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