H. Jack Feibelman, 99

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CRANSTON, R.I. – H. Jack Feibelman died June 19. He was predeceased by wife Hannah and son Jeffrey. Survivors include Jeffrey’s widow Jaine Feibelman; daughter Barbara (Kenneth Orenstein); daughter-in-law Caryl Feibelman; grandchildren Andrew Feibelman (Elaine), Marcy Feibelman, Matthew Orenstein (fiancée Kim Starbuck), Clare Feiner (Jake); and great-grandchildren Harlyn Feibelman and Graham Feiner.

Born Hans-Joachim Feibelmann in Berlin, Germany, to Clare (Arnholz) and Siegfried Feibelman. Due to the rise of the Third Reich, his parents sent Jack to live with an aunt and uncle in Arkansas. Within two years, he graduated from high school and business school to become self-supporting in order to guarantee his parents immigration affidavits, which he did. After moving to New York City, he landed a job with Coro Jewelry and was relocated to Providence.

Jack served in the Army, Air Force Division. He went to evening classes at Northeastern and earned a Bachelor of Science in Business.

Jack met Hannah Davis at Narragansett Beach and they married in 1946. Becoming part of Hannah’s Davis/Kotler/Zimmerman clan helped him cope with the loss of more than 18 family members in the Holocaust.

Jack advanced at Coro, and in 1966 he formed Feibelman & Krack, a jewelry manufacturers’ representative. As a separate venture, Jack established A & H Manufacturing Company to manufacture and market his revolutionary earring hanging-display card. With son Jeffrey, he expanded the product’s uses and dramatically grew the business.

Jack was a member of Temple Beth-El and Temple Sinai, and of the Jewish Federation’s Endowment Committee. He served on The Miriam Hospital’s board of governors and its Foundation board, which honored him in 2014 as Miriam Hospital Person of the Year.

In 2001, Jack received a Master of Arts degree in English from Brown University. His thesis documents his family’s story and traces his forebears’ German roots back to 1360.

Contributions in his memory may be made to The Miriam Hospital Foundation, Development Office, PO Box H, Providence, RI 02901.

obituary, H. Jack Feibelman