Harold B. Ginsberg, 92, lifelong resident of Beacon, passed away on Saturday at home, surrounded by family.
Dr. Ginsberg was born in Beacon on December 26, 1930, to Benjamin and Sarah (Levenberg) Ginsberg. He was predeceased by Phyllis, his beloved wife of 64 years, who passed away on January 28, 2017.
Dr. Ginsberg was raised by his maternal grandmother in Bayonne, New Jersey, after his mother died of polio when he was six months old. His father continued to reside in Beacon, where Dr. Ginsberg would visit on weekends and vacations. In 1934, his grandfather, Max Ginsberg, opened the Beacon Theater on Main Street, and as a young boy, Dr. Ginsberg spent many hours in the projection booth watching movies of the time, which initiated a lifelong enthusiasm for Hollywood films that he later shared with his children and grandchildren.
Dr. Ginsberg’s family members were among the founders of the Beacon Hebrew Alliance, where Dr. Ginsberg became a Bar Mitzvah and as an adult served as president of the synagogue.
After graduating from Rutgers University in 1952, he married the love of his life, Phyllis (Goldberg). He was a 1956 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Dental School and served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force in Ardmore, Oklahoma, from 1956 to 1958, receiving an honorable discharge. He and Phyllis then returned to Beacon to raise their family, and he practiced dentistry there and in Fishkill for more than 50 years. Dr. Ginsberg resided until his death in the house that he and Phyllis built in Beacon in 1961. He always considered Beacon to be his home.
Dr. Ginsberg loved taking a drive, playing golf, smoking his pipe, and going to Lank’s and the I-84 Diner, where he would meet friends, patients, and colleagues. Dr. Ginsberg lived his life with integrity and grace. His words were always kind, and his outlook always positive. Dr. Ginsberg was respected and admired by all who knew him; the world has lost a fine gentleman.
Dr. Ginsberg will be forever missed by his children, Stuart (Mimi) of Flint Hill, Virginia, Ellen (George Schutzer) of McLean, Virginia, and Shelley Leibowitz of Stamford, Connecticut; his seven grandchildren: Allison, Sarah, Adam, Benjamin, Abigail, Harrison, and Kendall; and three great-grandchildren. Dr. Ginsberg lovingly welcomed his grandchildren’s spouses and life partners into his family.
Funeral services will be held at the Beacon Hebrew Alliance, 331 Verplanck Ave., Beacon, NY on Thursday, April 13, at 10:30 a.m. Burial will follow at Mt. Judah Cemetery, Ridgewood, New York. The family invites friends, neighbors, and colleagues to the Ginsberg home in Beacon on Friday, April 14, beginning at 5 p.m., and on Saturday, April 15, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Donations in honor of Dr. Ginsberg may be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (mskcc.org).
Arrangements were entrusted to the Libby Funeral Home, 55 Teller Ave., Beacon, NY. To offer a message of condolence, donation or share a memory, please visit LibbyFuneralHome.com.
