Family, friends remember legacy of musician killed in Wallingford arson
Sep 1, 2025, 9:30 AM
Photo of musician Susan ‘Lisette’ Klee during the KIRO 7 newscast. (Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
(Photo courtesy of KIRO 7)
A final goodbye was held Sunday for a jazz musician killed in an arson attack at her Wallingford home in June.
Susan ‘Lisette’ Klee is remembered as a talented multi-instrumentalist who performed in jazz bands around Seattle.
Friends gathered on Sunday to remember the 72-year-old and her musical legacy.
They chose to honor her in death by playing the jazz music they had all played with her while she was alive.
“Yeah, I played with Lisette,” said Dan Rowe, standing inside the Phinney Neighborhood Association, a favorite of Klee’s.
Rowe was once one of Klee’s many bandmates.
“Yes, we played on the Argosy tours,” Rowe said. “We would play the waters of the Salish Sea for over 10 years, in a band called Swing Shift.”
She also performed with retired jazz singer Becca Duran.
They were best friends.
“It was the Friendly Fire Big Band,” Duran said. “And I hate to use the word ‘fire,’ of course, because she died tragically in a fire, and it’s been ruled a homicide. But it was the ‘Friendly Fire Big Band’ and we played in the New Orleans Restaurant (in Pioneer Square) for 15 years.”
Klee died in June when someone allegedly set fire to her home on Sunnyside Avenue North.
A 25-year-old man was arrested and charged with murder and arson in July. But on August 4, family and friends were stunned when the King County Prosecutor’s Office dropped the charges.
The prosecutor decided to drop the charges after questions were raised about how the Seattle Police Department (SPD) identified the suspect.
After her death, thieves looted what was left of Klee’s home, adding to the pain of friends and loved ones.
Now, mixed in with the sadness of how she died, is the joy of who she was.
“Quirky, original, intelligent, independent,” said her sister, Babs Klee, laughing, “independent. And an excellent musician.”
SPD is still searching for suspects in the arson that killed Klee.
Anyone with information about this crime is asked to call Seattle police.
