Obituary: Marion Feinstein

Marion Finke Feinstein, 91, of Spartanburg, S.C., passed away Friday, May 5, 2017, at Spartanburg Regional Hospice Home.

Born Nov. 7, 1925, in New York, she was the daughter of the late Charles and Anne Krein Finke and the widow of Seymour G. (Speedy) Feinstein. She was lovingly known by thousands of her students as “Miss Marion.”

After living in New York, her family moved to Springfield, Ohio, where she took her first dance class. When she was 12 years old, they moved to Spartanburg, where she continued her dance training and frequently took classes when she visited her grandparents in New York.

When Marion was 15, she met her future husband, Seymour (Speedy) Feinstein, while he was in the U.S. Army, stationed at Camp Croft. They were married three years later, and Speedy opened Marion’s, a ladies ready-to-wear store.

After majoring in secretarial science at the University of South Carolina, she opened Miss Marion’s School of Dance in 1946. Miss Marion was named to Who’s Who in American Entertainment and Who’s Who in American Education. She received a resolution award from the Spartanburg County Council and from the South Carolina Legislature for her immeasurable contributions through the art of dance.

She was a member of Dance Masters of America, Dance Educators of America and the Cecchetti Ballet Council of America. She was a former president of the Southern Council of Dance Masters and a former member of the Spartanburg Business and Professional Women’s Club. She was a member of Congregation B’nai Israel and the Sisterhood, for which she choreographed many performances. She was a lifetime member of Hadassah.

Miss Marion had been continuing her artistic talent by painting. Everyone in the family has one of Miss Marion’s special paintings, for which the family would like to give a special thank-you to her art teacher, Paige Davis.

Surviving family members are her children, Sandi Feinstein Friedman (Gerald) of Atlanta, Sheree Feinstein Kanter (David) of Birmingham, Ala., and Lori Feinstein Axelrod (Rob) of Spartanburg; grandchildren Jeremy Friedman (Melissa) of New York, Dr. Jared Friedman (Beth) of Atlanta, Dr. Gregory Friedman (Shari) of Birmingham, Corie Kanter McHugh (Jackie) of Charlotte, N.C., Jodi Kanter Warner (Clark) of Charlotte, Marisa Axelrod Cecil (Kent) of Spartanburg, Shauna Axelrod of Spartanburg and Steven Axelrod of Charlotte; great-grandchildren Jake, Zachary, Nate, Landon, Karis, Leighton and Lila Friedman, Mason Cecil, and Miles McHugh; brother Dr. Jay Elliot Finke of Atlanta; and many loving nieces and nephews.

Along with her parents and husband, she was predeceased by a sister, Betty Finke Freed, formerly of Sumter, S.C.

Pallbearers were Jeremy Friedman, Jared Friedman, Gregory Friedman, Steven Axelrod, Kent Cecil, Jackie McHugh and Clark Warner. Honorary pallbearers were Ben Stauber, Dr. Jay Bearden, Dr. Raul Lugo and Gary Polliakoff.

The funeral service was Sunday, May 7, at B’nai Israel in Spartanburg, conducted by Rabbi Yossi Liebowitz. Burial followed in Greenlawn Memorial Gardens, 1300 Fernwood-Glendale Road, Spartanburg.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Seymour (Speedy) Feinstein Fund at Congregation B’nai Israel, 146 Heywood Ave., Spartanburg, SC 29302, or the Spartanburg Regional Hospice Home, 686 Jeff Davis Drive, Spartanburg, SC 29303.

The family would like to offer a very special thank-you to the following caregivers: Dorothy Tolbert, Barbara Rice, Wanda Drummond, Susan Harris, Nancy and David Tran, and Paige Biggs and the staff of the Spartanburg Regional Hospice Home.

An online guest register is available at www.floydmortuary.com. Arrangements by Floyd’s Greenlawn Chapel.