SWAMPSCOTT — Former Swampscott School Committee member Richard Feinberg has died at age 70. He is remembered by friends and family as a politics junkie, sports fan, proponent for public education and a man whose world revolved around his grandsons.
“He knew true love when he became a grandfather,” said Richard’s wife, Laural Feinberg.
Richard was “papa” to two grandsons, 8-year-old Dylan Lucas and 12-year-old Kyle Lucas. He was also the devoted father of Julie Lucas, of Lynn.
Laural said her husband of 45 years died in his sleep, which family members were shocked and devastated to discover on Monday morning.
The couple moved to Swampscott 34 years ago after living in Lynn and Chelsea.
Feinberg served on the School Committee from 1987 to 2002 and was a schoolteacher for 34 years. He taught at Chelsea High School, which he graduated from, and then at Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School. He was an adjunct professor of government at Bunker Hill Community College.
Stuart Feinberg, 69, Richard’s brother, said the family is devastated — the brothers were always very close. Richard leaves behind another brother, Ralph Feinberg.
“He was just a typical great brother to have,” Stuart said. “He was always helping people as much as he could. If he could do somebody a favor (or) help someone, he would. He was just a great person, great brother, and boy, are we going to miss him.”
Richard was a high school basketball referee and later the commissioner of the Dual County League for many years.
Laural said she met her husband at a party when she was 17 years old and he was 19. It was just a party that she would ordinarily never go to, but happened to go once. From there, they dated 6½ years through high school and college and married shortly after they both became teachers. Laural taught in Lynn for 35 years.
Laural said the turning point in their relationship was when she went on a trip to Las Vegas with her father for the first time. She was 23 — she and a girlfriend stayed in one hotel and her father stayed in another one. Richard, her boyfriend at the time, all of a sudden decided he couldn’t stand to be away from her for five days — her trip was from a Sunday to Thursday.
“He thought for sure some guy was going to scoop me up,” Laural said.
So, Laural said Richard told her he was getting on a plane and coming. He was scared to death to fly, claustrophobic and had to borrow money to get there, but when he got there, he was wonderful and it was an amazing couple of days with him, she said.
When they got back home, they were engaged. Him making the trip there really showed her something, she said.
She said they both liked sports — the couple saw every Super Bowl together, all 52 of them. The first year they dated was the first Super Bowl.
Laural said her husband loved antiques — their house is full of them, including lamps, porcelain, furniture and clocks. He was also very much interested in politics and gambling.
Ted Delano, a Swampscott Police detective and School Committee member, said he knew Richard from growing up in town. He said he spoke to him during his first election for School Committee on issues that he felt were important.
“His guidance and information was spot on throughout the years that I’ve been on the School Committee,” said Delano, who was elected to a third, three-year term on the committee last month. “I would speak to him on a pretty frequent basis. We had the same thought process of making sure kids got the best education possible.”
Delano said Feinberg was dedicated to the community of Swampscott and always wanted what was best for the educational process.
“Swampscott has lost a dynamic proponent of public education,” Delano said.
Superintendent Pamela Angelakis issued a statement on Monday on behalf of Swampscott Public Schools, saying “we are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Richard Feinberg.
“As a longtime School Committee member, Mr. Feinberg devoted many years of his life to public service and was an impassioned advocate for students,” Angelakis said. “He was a loyal fan of Big Blue Athletics and a champion for the development of the new Blocksidge Field. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Laural, and the rest of his family.”
Glenn Kessler, a former member of the Board of Selectmen, said his friend had a real love for the town like few others. He said Richard belonged to an era where service to the town was viewed as an honor and civic responsibility and he was all about giving back to the town.
“He was all about anything political,” Kessler said. “It was always in good nature and it was fun. Whenever I would leave him, I would always have a smile on my face. It was just fun to be with him.”
