Arlene Ginsberg, our dear, beloved, mother, cousin and friend passed away peacefully at her home in Leawood, Kan., on Nov. 30, 2014, surrounded by her family. Funeral services were held at the Yukon Chapel at Mount Carmel Cemetery on Dec. 2.
The family suggests making a donation to the Arlene & Gerald Ginsberg Youth Memorial Fund at Congregation Beth Shalom, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Kansas City, Jewish Family Services or a charity of one’s choice.
Arlene was born on Aug. 11, 1927, to Yetta and Ben Gottlieb and was lovingly raised by her mother and her bubbe Esther Horovitz. She attended Kansas City, Mo., public schools and graduated from Central High School in 1944. She then attended Huff Business College in Kansas City and upon her graduation from there worked in the offices of Cook Paint Co. and Rival Mfg.
In 1951 she married the love of her life Gerald “Jerry” Ginsberg and went to work with him in the family’s grocery business in Kansas City, Kan. In 1967 they closed that business and opened Midway Meat Co in Raytown, Mo., specializing in grade A premium beef and freezer products. After Jerry’s passing in 1975 she operated the business until selling it in 1983. She then worked in the retail food industry, including Epstein’s Kosher Foods, where she enjoyed serving her friends and other members of the Jewish community.
Upon ending her retail career her loving heart guided her into becoming a nanny to several area families over the years. She was a lifelong member of Congregation Beth Shalom and past member of its Sisterhood. She served as a member and past President of the Marcella Rodin Club, a non-profit organization which provided physical therapy and rehabilitation equipment to many area hospitals in the 1960s and ‘70s.
Arlene’s greatest joy was to have large family gatherings with everyone enjoying her wonderful cooking and baking. She provided a warm, loving home for her children while she continued to work outside the home to provide for them. In later years, as her mobility declined, she enjoyed reaching out to family and friends with sweet notes, greeting cards for every occasion and frequent phone calls. She loved gathering with friends — old and new — at the Jewish Community Center for weekly Mah Jongg and card games.
Her sweet, kind, generous spirit and loving nature will be greatly missed by all who know her. Arlene was preceded in death by her parents and her husband Jerry. She is survived by her daughter, Sheryl Hinrichs (Von), Colorado Springs, Colo.; son, Jamie Ginsberg, Leawood; cousin, Audrey Wienstock, Leawood; her “best of everything” in-law, Hedy Gershman (Jerry), St. Louis, Mo.; “sisters-in-love,” Maurine Agron (Sam), Leawood, Terry Tull, Kansas City, Mo., as well as numerous other cousins and extended family whom she all adored.