• Remembering an Icon

Sharon Kenigsberg | Director of Endowment & Community Development


 

This past year, our community has sadly seen the passing of many pillars of our community. These leaders shared a passion and generosity for the Jewish community and they served as role models to all of us. On May 29th, we lost another pillar with the passing of Bobby Kronick.

 

Bobby will be remembered for his extensive work to fulfill the vision of creating the Alpert Jewish Community Center. He, along with his wife Evy, worked tirelessly to ensure that the Long Beach Jewish community would have a place to forever thrive. He therefore passionately headed the construction committee to build the new Alpert Jewish Community Center. Bobby led by example, reaching out to people at all levels to invite them to join him in giving back to the community. He served as an active member of both the Jewish Federation and the Long Beach Jewish Community Center’s Boards of Directors, where he helped to create the plan for a new center. He continued to serve for many years on the Weinberg Jewish Federation Campus Building and Grounds Committee after the new building and campus were dedicated.

 

In their profile in the 1999 dedication book for the new Campus, Evy and Bobby spoke about the value of continuity. It is the essence of continuity that kept them in Long Beach where they both were born, where their parents were lifelong friends, where they attended high school together, were married and raised their family. Ultimately, it was the desire to assure the continuity of our Jewish community that caused Bobby to be involved with this project.

 

Bobby’s dear friend Jack Berro remarked, “Bobby and I worked on many fund raising projects. We were on the building committee to not only build but raise money for the same. We also helped with funding for new school buses, and various Federation and AJCC events. So, whenever I called him, the first thing he would say is “How much is this phone call going to cost me,” or “How much do you want this time?” He was a great guy and will be sorely missed.


Lifetime of Service

 

Bobby was honored with the Lifetime of Service Award at the Jewish Community Partnership’s Legacy of Leadership event on January 22, 2017. This award honors someone who has devoted their lives to Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) and who have been the pillars upon which our community can stand going forward. Bobby is survived by his daughter Jann and grandson Chance (pictured to the left, when he received this award). Bobby told us that he celebrated every day with Jann and Chance. His principles set the bar for family philanthropy and having his family stay involved.

 

The shining lights of the leaders we lost still shine bright in the legacies that they left us: the importance of continuity, philanthropy and leadership. In 1999, Bobby explained, “When you live in a community all your life you need to give something back. We want people to know we were here and that we cared.”