Elaine Reingold Kleinmetz

Elaine Kleinmetz

Elaine Reingold Kleinmetz, 93, died peacefully on June 26, 2023 surrounded by loved ones. She was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1930 to Sara and George Reingold, where she graduated from Forest Park High School. Her family were immigrants from Russia/Ukraine. In the early 1960s she and her family moved to Charlotte, where she raised her two children and was an active volunteer in Temple Beth-El Sisterhood. Elaine moved to St. Petersburg Beach, Florida in the early 1980s to care for her mother and met her second husband, Eugene Kleinmetz, who predeceased her. In Florida, Elaine actively volunteered for the Democratic Party in Pinellas County and for the Brandeis National Committee. An avid reader herself, she read to children in the St. Petersburg Beach school system and to the elderly experiencing sight issues. She lived in Florida until April of this year, when she moved to Chapel Hill, North Carolina to be closer to family. 

Elaine loved the arts. Performance art and theater were her favorites. She herself had a flair for the dramatic and her humor rivaled the best. She enjoyed writing and performing lyrics for musicals and plays for her Temple. Her creative Halloween costumes expressed her sense of fun. As for her other hobbies, she was a lifelong Mahjong player and an avid baseball fan of the Tampa Rays. She had a wide circle of dear friends in Florida and kept in close touch with her extended family who were very important to her. Elaine was known for always remembering birthdays, anniversaries and other important life events. She will also be remembered for her kindness towards people from all walks of life. 

She was especially devoted to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She loved to have them visit her at her home in St. Pete Beach, where she would take them to the beach, show them dolphins in the bay, watch fireworks, go to shows, feed them her famous kugel, share her stash of dark chocolate, or find other ways to spoil them. However, when it came to playing Scrabble or other games, she was famously competitive. 

Elaine is survived by her daughter Debra G. Levin and son-in-law Jonathan Hartlyn of North Carolina and by her son Jerry S. Levin and daughter-in-law Minako Levin of Japan. She is also survived by her niece Wendy, her grandchildren, Abe, Jon, Millie, Sonya, Mia, Mike and Seth and step grandchildren, Liza and Zach, and by great-grandchildren Ezekiel, Amy, Sara, Leah, Marlo, Teagan, Levi, Wren, Leo and Rafi.

Elaine’s family asks that tzedakah (charity) given in Elaine’s memory (in lieu of flowers) be donated to one of the following:

HIAS (world’s oldest refugee agency) https://hias.org/  

Reading is Fundamental https://www.rif.org/  

Zichrona Livracha - May her memory be a blessing.