Bernie Feldstein

Our father, Bernie Feldstein, passed away on Tuesday July 21, 2020. He died suddenly. It seems his heart gave out. But for more than 84 years he had a big generous heart that spread lots of love to our mother Barbara, to both of us, to our spouses (Amy Mazur and Dennis Orwig) and to our boys (his four grandsons: Gabe, Will, Jesse and Nate). Bernie's devotion and loving attention to all of us came, in part, from knowing loss as a young boy. He was born in NYC on January 27, 1936. His mother passed away when he was 3. His father Abe was a notable influence - genetically and politically. Dad attended the Modern School (run by anarchist educators) and was a summer camper at WO-CHI-CA. He attended Stuyvesant High School and Cooper Union in New York then earned his degree in Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His career in architecture included a long tenure at Whitney Atwood Norcross Associates in Boston. After semi-retiring in 1992 (in part to provide childcare for his first grandchild) he continued serving in various capacities. He served for 13 years as the founding chair of the Massachusetts School Building Authority Designer Selection Panel since its first meeting in June 2007. Bernie met our mom while working a summer job at a resort in the Catskills. He then successfully won over her doubting doting parents (our Bubbe and Zayde). He was a devoted dad, schlepping Mike to early morning swim practices, always in the stands at his meets. Years later, he was a regular at the hockey rink, basketball court and baseball field - regaling the crowd with anecdotes and rooting for grandsons (reminding them of the importance of effort over a win). If you were Bernie's friend, colleague, gym-mate, neighbor or even a passerby you likely heard him kvell about his grandkids. He was very proud and got to tell them so when StoryCorps recorded their one-on-one conversations last fall. He was well known and loved by our friends and classmates. He could be unbelievably thoughtful, ridiculously funny, irreverent and crude. His random acts of kindness grew more frequent as he aged and mellowed. His heart grew bigger, in a good way - maybe because of the care of his many excellent doctors who found ways to keep it ticking. He had lots of favorite things - many of which surrounded him near the end of his life: chats with old friends, early morning workouts, funny jokes, long naps in a comfy chair, provocative documentaries, good home cooking, everyday kindnesses, lefties, well-designed objects, crusaders for social justice and lamb chops. A list of his favorite people would include those of you visiting this site and reading this note. It would be greatly appreciated by us to read any and all messages you have and would like to send in (to this website or to the mailing address below). We would cherish hearing your stories and knowing more about your memories of him. We are comforted knowing that up until the end he was vibrant and curious, connected and surrounded by love. He was so grateful for the friendship and camaraderie and kindness shown to him and his family by you. Thank you for reading this and for sharing his memory with us. Sincerely, Vickie & Mike. c/o Mike Feldstein. 39 Woodward Street. Newton Highlands MA 02461. For those who have asked about making a donation in Bernie's memory, please feel free to contribute to any organization that you feel would recognize his values. We know that he strongly supported the work of the Equal Justice Initiative: committed to challenging racial and economic injustice and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people. Any donation in his name would be an honor.