SIDNEY “SY” FINKELSTEIN
of Little Rock, Arkansas, departed this life on Sunday, February 16, 2020, at the age of 91. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on July 22, 1928, to Harry and Sadie Finkelstein. He lived in Conyngham and then Pocono Lake, Pennsylvania, until retiring to Oldsmar, Florida, for almost 20 years before moving to Little Rock. He enjoyed golfing, playing tennis, and snow skiing when he lived in Pennsylvania, only suffering one broken ankle on the slopes. He learned to play handball while growing up on the streets of Brooklyn and enjoyed playing with many of his friends and their sons at the Hazleton YMCA. He was a New York Giants football fan and a Brooklyn Dodger baseball fan, who vowed never to root for the Yankees. When his beloved Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, he reluctantly became a New York Mets fan and enjoyed their World Series victories in 1969 and 1986. In later years, he enjoyed following professional tennis on television.
Sy is survived by his wife of 58 years, Florence Finkelstein; two sons, Mark Finkelstein and wife Lisa of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and Hugh Finkelstein and wife Ginger of Little Rock. He was preceded in death by his son, Howard, who died as a child; his parents; his brother, Herman “Hy” Finkelstein; and his sister, Lorraine Krieger. He had four grandchildren, Mitchell Sauers, Brett Finkelstein, William Finkelstein and Kassandra Boyce; and two great-grandchildren, Max Sauers and Elias Burks.
Sy graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where he used his radio-quality voice and wit to host a show on the student radio station. After graduation, he was drafted into the Army and served two years in Korea. When he arrived home from the war, he worked for several companies before moving to Pennsylvania, where he owned a small business with his wife for many years.
Sy enjoyed watching his sons play every sport available to them, especially baseball, which he could watch from a lawn chair in his back yard that backed up to the city park. He also spent countless hours hitting ground balls and fly balls and throwing batting practice to his sons at the park. When his sons played college sports, Sy and Florence rarely missed one of their games, sometimes traveling 12 hours, oneway, with their dog, Cleo, to watch the game. His wry sense of humor was evident when he taught Cleo to obey commands in Yiddish: “kosher” treats were good, and “trayf” were to be ignored.
Despite declining health in recent years, Sy’s face lit up when looking at photographs of family, especially photographs of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren during a recent visit from Mark. He retained his sense of humor to the delight of everyone he saw.
A private memorial will be held at a later time. To sign the online guestbook, click “Add A Memory” at: www.griffinleggetthealeyroth.com.