Beatrice Hornstein August 16, 1936 - April 25, 2024
Miami Beach, Florida -It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Beatrice Rait Hornstein, who peacefully departed from this world on April 25, 2024 at her Miami Beach residence surrounded by her two children. Bea was a devoted and loving sister, mother, mother-in-law, grandmother, and friend. Born in The Bronx, on August 16, 1936, she attended Christopher Columbus High School and worked as a bookkeeper in a furniture store and a salesperson at Bloomingdales before/ while attending Hunter College, receiving her Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1957. She went on to teach elementary school in East Meadow from 1957 to 1962. In 1959, she married her garment center salesman and apparel designer husband, Robert Milton Hornstein after their families had known each other from many summers spent in Sylvan Lake, NY. The Hornsteins had two children, James and Suzie. In 1971, the family moved to Miami Beach (Palm Island) and together, launched Sphairistike and American Tennis, manufacturing tennis apparel. After Bob’s untimely death in 1983, Bea went on to have a third and long career- even obtaining her Series 7 brokerage license - working for Merrill Lynch. After her retirement, in 2001, she went on to become a member of the Miami Beach Cultural Arts Council through her term limit.
Ahead of her time, as a young woman with small children, she became enthralled by spirituality and the power of the mind in positive thinking and visualization. Always interested in culture, and as a collector of African art and antiques, her personal sense of eclectic style was apparent in both her gift for interior design and personal attire. She was up on politics, smart as a whip, great at math and always up for a brain challenge or the reverse-engineering involved in fixing things. Hours a day could be happily spent sitting in the comfort of the home she loved with a stack of Architectural Digest or Elle Decor magazines (among others), or a good crossword puzzle (preferably the NY Times, still gifted to her by her former son-inlaw, Michael). Over the last several years, she reveled in annual travels exploring far off places in Asia, Africa and India with her daughter. She cherished her family and was immensely proud of her children and grandchildren.
She was predeceased by her parents Harry Rait (1980) and Sophie Raymond Rait (1989), as well as her husband (1984), Robert Milton Hornstein. She is survived by her brother, Charles Rait; son, James (and his wife Dana Kiel) and granddaughter, Lindsay; and daughter, Suzie Ross and grandsons Jake and Ben; as well, her companion of many years, Jay Marks.
Bea was a very spiritual person. She cared very deeply about democracy and democratic values. The family requests, with gratitude, that any donations made in her honor be made to the Biden-Harris campaign, any local democratic election campaign, or the Environmental Voter Project.
A private graveside ceremony will be held at Cedar Park Cemetery, Paramus, NJ.