To the Editor:

As young men recently establishing Newtown as home in the late ’60s, we all joined the Newtown Jaycees for socialization and civic service. That was 53 years ago.

We lost one of those men last week. Bob Rubinstein passed away from pancreatic cancer in Yale New Haven Hospital last Wednesday, March 11, 2021. Bob, a native of The Bronx, New York, chose Newtown as home with his wife, Florence, and raised two sons here, Lewis and Craig. As most of us did then, he became very active in his new community. He served with distinction in the Newtown Jaycees, serving as its vice president among other project chairmanships. As an avid New York Yankee fan, he also became active as a Little League coach.

Bob’s legacy in town, though, will always be his service to his synagogue, Congregation Adath Israel in the Botsford section of Newtown. As a small congregation back in the ’70s, Bob became very active in supporting whatever had to be done. During his more than 40 years of service to the congregation, Bob served twice as its president and, equally important, served for many decades as a teacher of Hebrew to the many young congregants. His service was so instrumental to the synagogue’s existence and growth that the congregation awarded him the first ever ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ and honored him further by naming the award after him, so that his memory will be sustained for years to come.

Bob lived in Newtown for more than 40 years, and although he and Florence moved to neighboring Southbury and now Oxford, he long sustained his service to Newtown after moving. As demonstrated by his service, Bob was a very personable and caring individual. He was a loving and devoted husband, a proud father to Lewis and Craig, and an adoring grandfather to his ten grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. As his community will miss Bob’s service, his lifetime friends will miss him, too. It was a pleasure to know him and to be in his company.

My dear friend Bob, you have lived your life well, with meaning and distinction, now rest in peace. Keep your head down, and swing through.

Shalom.

Dennis J. Farrell, formerly of Newtown

SE Crape Myrtle Court, Hobe Sound, Fla.