Benjamin Finkelstein, pharmacist

Benjamin B. Finkelstein, a Ridgefield resident for the past 32 years, died on Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2005, at Danbury Hospital following a massive stroke. He was 72 years old and the husband of Eleanor “Elie” Singer Finkelstein.

Mr. Finkelstein was born and grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y., the youngest child of Morris and Ida Applebaum Finkelstein. He attended New York schools and was a U.S. Army Korean War veteran and a graduate of Brooklyn College of Pharmacy.

Mr. Finkelstein had owned the Westfair Pharmacy in Westport from 1960 to 1976. He was then a pharmacist at Wilton Pharmacy and in later years, Rite-Aid Pharmacy in Danbury and most recently the Rite-Aid Pharmacy in Bridgeport.

Mr. Finkelstein was well known in area theater groups for his expertise and work in designing and building sets, stage managing, serving on the boards, and “doing anything and everything that was needed,” his wife said.

He was serving on the board of the Pound Ridge Theatre Company. Previously, he had been a board member at Ridgefield Workshop for the Performing Arts, now the Ridgefield Theater Barn, and was the first recipient of its Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mr. Finkelstein belonged to various pharmaceutical associations in the area and along with his wife was an active participant in Jewish Marriage Encounter.

He was a member of Temple B’nai Chaim of Georgetown.

“He was loved and will be missed by many,” Mrs. Finkelstein said.

Besides his wife of 48 years, Mr. Finkelstein is survived by a son, Everett Finkelstein, and his wife, Tara Demyan, of Providence, R.I.; two daughters, Mardi Smith and her husband, David, of Newtown, and Amy Joyce and her husband, Edward, of Reston, Va.; two sisters, Marion Weinstein of New York and Florida and Louise Gross of Long Island, N.Y., seven grandchildren, Zo‘ and twins Hannah and Jacob Finkelstein, Kyra and Brandon Smith, and Sarah and Samantha Joyce; a sister-in-law, Barbara Zucker, of New York, N.Y.; as well as several nieces, nephews and cousins.

Rabbi Leah Cohen led services on Friday in Temple B’nai Chaim. Burial followed in Old Montefiore Cemetery, Springfield Gardens, Queens, N.Y.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the Danbury Hospital Development Fund (restricted to the Stroke Center), 24 Hospital Ave., Danbury, CT 06810.

The Kane Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.