Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis/VCG via Getty ImagesCondolences go out to KISS bassist/singer Gene Simmons, who announced that his mother, Flora Klein, has passed away at the age of 93.
In a post on his social media sites, Simmons writes, “I lost my Mother. My mentor. My moral compass. And I am heartbroken…No illness. No pain. She simply quietly, went to sleep.”
He adds, “My Mother will always be in my thoughts and in my heart. Today. And Forever…And I would urge all of you, to run over, put your arms around your mother, kiss her and tell her how much you love her. Do this every day!”
Simmons’ fellow founding KISS member, singer/guitarist Paul Stanley, penned a tribute to Gene’s mother that’s been posted on the band’s official website.
“I knew her as long as I’ve known Gene. Beyond her fierce love and pride in her only child she was his inspiration to live up to being worthy of the sacrifices she made in a very difficult and at times horrific life,” Stanley writes. “A holocaust survivor she fought for all she had and her fierce protection and pride in Gene made her someone to be feared, admired and loved. I will miss her laugh and smile. Let us all say a prayer for her, Gene and his family.”
Flora was born in Hungary, and she and her brother Larry were the only members of her family to survive the Holocaust. After World War II she moved to Israel, where her son was born in 1949. When Gene was 8, Flora moved with her son to the U.S., while his father, Ference Witz, remained in Israel.
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