On Jan. 19, 2024, Phyllis Feinberg, 89, passed away peacefully at her winter home in Pompano Beach, Florida after an extended illness. A third-generation native and lifelong resident of Saranac Lake, she was the only child of Irving and Alice Krinovitz. After graduating from Syracuse University in 1956, she married Philip S. Feinberg, her husband of 67 years.
As a teenager in the early 1950s, Phyllis was one of the prominent figure skaters in the United States. She was a protegee of the legendary Lake Placid coach, Gus Lussi, and a contemporary and close friend of Olympic gold medalists Dick Button, Tenley Albright and Canadian champion, Carole Pachl Pedvis, with whom she trained. Though she retired from competition in 1953 to attend college, she continued to give skating exhibitions for a number of years. Later, she taught skating to young children in Saranac Lake as a volunteer. During the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, she mentored the delegation of Chinese skaters upon learning that they had no experience in international competition and no coach. Skating remained one of her greatest passions throughout her life.
Her other passions included travel and the performing arts. Her trips to various places around the globe were as legendary among her contemporaries as her ice skating. Due to her work with the Chinese figure skaters, she was an honored guest in China in the early 1980s shortly after the country opened to Western tourism. She also traveled extensively throughout other parts of Asia, Europe and North America, with additional forays to South America, Africa and Australia. She visited every continent on the globe except for Antarctica. Her curiosity of other cultures, willingness to open her home to others, interest in historic landmarks and desire to collect art and artifacts resulted in many cherished international friendships.
Primarily a homemaker and mother to her two children, Wayne and Lisa, Phyllis volunteered for numerous community organizations and projects. She was particularly involved with Saranac Lake General Hospital/Adirondack Health as a volunteer and as a chair of the annual Saranac Lake Antique Show which benefited the hospital.
More recently, Phyllis served on the board of the Lake Placid Sinfonietta. She also worked part time as the office/rental manager at DeChantel Apartments for over 20 years. Her hobbies included golf, tennis, water-aerobics, reading biographies, gemology, knitting, crocheting and needlepoint.
She is survived by her husband Philip, children Wayne Feinberg and Lisa Feinberg Ballard (Jack Ballard), and three grandchildren Hannah Feinberg O’Neal (Adam O’Neal), Parker Densmore and Palmer Feinberg.
Funeral arrangements are in care of the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake. A celebration of Phyllis’ life will take place on Sunday, May 26 at the Hotel Saranac in Saranac Lake from 3 to 5 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Adirondack Health Foundation at P.O. Box 120, Saranac Lake, NY 12983 or the Lake Placid Sinfonietta at P.O. Box 1303, Lake Placid, NY 12946.
