We’re here today to mourn the passing but also to honor the life of Dr. Richard Feingold, beloved husband father, grandfather and treasured friend. Dick’s sudden death has come as a shock, and it will take some time to even realize what’s happened. But it won’t take any time at all to decide what kind of person he was. He was a great person who lived a wonderful life filled with love, healing and achievement.

Dick was born in Yonkers, the only child of Joseph and Henrietta Feingold. He went to school and graduated Yonkers High School. He graduated NYU
and then studied dentistry at the University of Pennsylvania. Just for the record, those are two of the finest institutions in the world. He enlisted in the U. S. Army and served in the Dental Corps with the 4th infantry from 1962-64. He was a patriotic American and believed in the military’s role in protecting our country and making the world a safer place. After the Army, he researched possible places to set up his dental practice and decided on Orange, Ct. He opened the office in October 1964 and practiced for over 40 years. He had a great relationship with his partner Gary Rappaport.
He was great at what he did. He loved what he did. He could have worked 24 hours a day. He was loyal to his patients and they were loyal to him. If he sometimes cracked a not-so-great joke or two, his patients let it go, because everyone knew that he did not have a bad bone in his body.

He was very educated in his field and always kept up with developments. He was even the Chairman of the Council of Continuing Education for the Conn State Dental Association.

He married Sharon in 1961 and they recently celebrated their 54th anniversary. There is no way to sum up all these years in a few sentences. Sharon has been so devoted and so wonderful that words can’t express it. They shared everything. They have had a wonderful life together and we just wish it could have kept going. We wish Sharon all our comfort on this horribly difficult day.

He was a wonderful father to Bruce and Deborah.
Bruce and Barbara, Deborah and Harry all made him happy and proud. And Bruce had Tyler and Alex, and these grandsons were the greatest blessings.

He was a great swimmer in his youth.
He loved golf both as a sport and for its sociability.
He was a very social person with a great sense of humor.

I come back to Dr. Feingold. His practice was such a big part of his life and identity. Think about all of the people he healed, all the people he helped.

In our lives, what do we want? Love and purpose. He had both. We mourn his death, but we honor and cherish his life.

To Sharon and his children and grandchildren, we wish you G-d’s comfort on this sad day. He was a righteous man. May he rest in peace. Let us say Amen.