BENJAMIN FRANKEL

FRANKEL--Benjamin. Benjamin Harrison Frankel was born on November 13, 1930 in Trenton, NJ, to Fannie (Lavine) and Abraham Frankel and passed away on May 27, 2020 at his home in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY. From his father Abe, Ben said he absorbed a diligence in observation and how to discern what was important. He graduated from the University of California-Berkeley and Harvard Law School, and spent his entire career at Kelley Drye, LLP, where he served as head of the Real Estate Department. He was a leader in joint venture agreements and an expert on three dimensional real estate. His greatest satisfaction came from training younger lawyers - he was not an easy mentor, but for those who passed his test, the rewards were lifelong. Ben served as President of PEF Israel Endowment Funds and was among the founders and first presidents of Temple Beth Shalom in Hastings. He was an environmentalist and avid hiker, traversing trails from England to Japan and was a legendary volunteer supervisor of the South Taconic Trails for more than two decades. Ben had an insatiable intellectual curiosity, studying subjects as varied as philosophy, literature, and mathematics. He once even penned a scholarly article in which he developed a mathematical model to gauge the likelihood of Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak ever being surpassed (spoiler alert: he calculated the odds at slim to none). But there was nothing he enjoyed more than telling a good story. With a twinkle in his eye, and just the right pauses for effect (he was a great fan of Jack Benny), he could turn any ho-hum tale into one that captivated an audience, including his seven grandchildren. Ben is survived by his wife of 61 years, Phyllis Frankel; daughters Faith (Howard) Levy, Rachel Frankel, Eleanor Frankel (Tom Frank); and grandchildren Abraham (Jenna Krieger), Ethan, and Joseph Levy; Emanuel and Jonah Anastos; and Jeremy and Sylvia Frank.