On Jan. 2, Patricia Kreindler Strongin died in Bethesda. She was 87. She was born in Manhattan to David Kriendler and Anne Levin Kriendler, and raised in Liberty, New York, and, really, Grossinger’s Hotel, where her father was the general manager and “Patsy” was a self-described “hotel brat” who reveled in short-sheeting guests’ beds when she wasn’t winning Silver Skates speedskating competitions at Madison Square Garden. Pat attended Liberty High School and then Cornell University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 1959.
It was at a summer secretarial job at Sydney Applebaum’s law firm in Monticello, NY, where she met husband-to-be, Sy Strongin. Pat and Sy married on July 12, 1959, and soon started their life together in Washington, D.C. Alongside a vibrant group of lifelong friends, Pat enjoyed a career as a manager at the Bureau of National Affairs, was a leader in the effort to integrate Montgomery County Schools and was proud to serve as the president of Temple Sinai in D.C.
Pat was the mother of Laurie Strongin, Andrew Strongin and Tracey Goldman, and Abby Cherner (nee Strongin, Andrew Cherner); and the grandmother of Henry (z”), Jack, and Joe Goldberg, Emma and Sam Strongin, and Michael, Rachel, Joshua and Noah Cherner.
Donations can be made to Hope for Henry Fund at MedStar Health, which honors her grandson Henry, and which helps improve outcomes for America’s sickest children.
Arrangements made through Sagel Bloomfield Danzansky Goldberg Funeral Care.