Edward Dennis "Ed" Kleiman

Edward Dennis "Ed" Kleiman, 73, of St. Louis, Missouri, passed from death to life on September 20, 2026.

Ed lived a full life. Among his favorite quotes was one from the 18th-century Puritan Jonathan Edwards: "Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done when I come to die."

Ed was born June 27, 1953, in St. Louis to Max Kleiman and Anna Theresa (Kegler) Kleiman. He grew up in a loving family in the home on Archer Avenue, which was also his last residence.

From an early age, Ed had an entrepreneurial streak and a gift for talking with people and getting things done. His first job was working alongside his father at the A&P grocery, stocking shelves and bagging groceries. He later counted cars at intersections for St. Louis County, sold room additions for Thomas Construction, and started his own catalog merchandise business. A graduate of University City High School, Ed completed the Dale Carnegie course and hoped to teach it himself, though at the time he lacked the college credits required.

Music was one of the great loves of Ed's life. Following his brother Marshall, he took up the drums and became an exceptional drummer. He toured with Silver Cloud, an R&B lounge band that played hotels across the country, and became part of the St. Louis music scene. Many people from those years knew him simply as "Just Ed," his standard reply when asked his name. He valued his privacy.

Those years also brought with them drugs and alcohol - a part of his story that Ed was quite willing to share in his testimony. In the early 1990s, Ed came to faith in Jesus Christ and became sober. From then on, Christ became the overriding focus of his life, and Ed wanted to share Him with friends, family, and strangers alike. Ed was also fond of reminding people that he had been no angel growing up. He never claimed that the strength of his faith was what mattered. What mattered, he would say, was the object of that faith - Jesus Christ. And for Ed, that made all the difference.

Ed was discipled into ministry by the late Pastor Kent Wagner of the Evangelical Free Church and was later called to missionary work. Through International Messengers, he served abroad, teaching, preaching and distributing Bibles, books and tracts, often in places where Christianity and Christian literature were restricted.

Whether overseas or at home in St. Louis, evangelism was not simply something Ed did - it became part of who he was.

Those who knew him also knew his quirks. Vegetables were largely absent from his diet. A potato could occasionally make the cut. A salad generally could not. We've tried giving him broccoli to eat - it didn't go well! He adored cats, at one point sharing his home with five, and among his most beloved companions were Walden and, fittingly, Aslan, the Christ-figure in C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia. Ed was independent, unconventional, persistent, funny, and unmistakably himself. You learned not to be surprised by how Ed did things. Like Aslan, he was not a tame lion.

Ed was preceded in death by his parents, Max and Anna Kleiman. He is survived by his sister, Linda Kleiman Schuler; his brother, Marshall (married to Kathy) Kleiman; and many cousins, extended family members, and quite literally, a world of friends.

Visitation will be held Thursday, October 1, 2026, at 10 a.m. at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 2143 N. Ballas Road, St. Louis, MO 63131, followed by the funeral service at 11 a.m. A graveside service will follow at Bellerive Gardens Cemetery, 740 N. Mason Road, St. Louis, MO 63141.

It is hard to imagine Ed arriving quietly anywhere, and Heaven is probably no exception. He was fond of quoting the Baptist preacher C.H. Spurgeon: "The best moment of a Christian's life is his last one, because it is the one that is nearest heaven; and then it is that he begins to strike the keynote of the song which he shall sing for all eternity." For Ed, the faith he spent more than three decades sharing has now become an eternal song with a steady drumbeat.

Gifts in lieu of flowers can be sent to New City Fellowship West End, 1142 Hodiamont Avenue, St. Louis 63112.