Klette, Ernest

Born in Montreal, Canada, in 1874, Ernest Klette was the son of C. J. M. Klette, a furrier, and Marie Held. In 1876, his family relocated to California and settled on a farm five miles from Millerton in Fresno County, where they engaged in stock raising and ranching. Klette attended local public schools organized by his father and worked on the family ranch until his twenties, serving as a local Justice of the Peace until resigning in 1902 to pursue legal studies.

After reading law privately and completing courses at Stanford University, Klette was admitted to the California bar in San Francisco in December 1904. Following a brief practice in Selma, he established himself as a prominent attorney in Fresno. Active in civic governance and local politics, Klette served as a Fresno City Trustee beginning in 1907, was elected City Attorney of Fresno in 1912, and contributed articles on public policy to the local press. Married twice—first to Ada Knight (died 1908), with whom he had a daughter, Ruth, and later to Olga Sorensen in 1912—he was a Republican, a officer in the Woodmen of the World, and a member of the Fresno County Bar Association.