Beth Feinstein passed away of natural causes on February 22, 2007 at the Santa Monica assisted living home where she lived. Feinstein, age 87, was the mother of Michael Feinstein, former mayor of Santa Monica.
Born in Chicago on February 16, 1920 to Harry and Sylvia Sachs, she was the youngest of six children and was raised in Chicago and nearby Skokie. She married her husband Sol Feinstein in 1954 and moved to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area to be with him.
In 1959, she traveled to Greece to adopt son Michael, who was a three-month-old starving malnourished baby in an orphanage in Athens. They lived first in Highland Park, Minnesota, a neighborhood in St. Paul, and then in 1961 moved to St. Louis Park, a suburb of Minneapolis.
Sol Feinstein passed away in July 1992, and eventually Beth Feinstein moved to Santa Monica in July 2000 to join her son, a City Councilmember. She was present for his reelection campaign in the fall of 2000, and saw him become mayor in December 2000. Over the next two years, she attended various ceremonial functions with him, experiencing the pride of a mother happy that her son has done well.
Beth and Michael remained close through her last days, blessed by the opportunity to live close to each other. In addition to her son Michael, Beth is survived by her nieces Phyllis Berman of Northbrook, Illinois and Lona DiCarlo of White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
She was buried in Edina, Minnesota.
Beth is remembered with photos and an essay by her son at www.feinstein.org/my_mother.
