Ronald David West, a Washington attorney and longtime community leader whose service to the Hebrew Home of Greater Washington helped shape what is now Charles E. Smith Life Communities, died on Jan. 10 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He was 89.
West’s involvement in Jewish communal life began in the early 1970s, when he joined the organization’s Men’s Club as a young professional looking for a meaningful way to contribute.
“He started as a volunteer and just stayed with it,” his son, Eric West, said. “It became the organization he identified with and the community he built his relationships around.”
Over time, West assumed increasing responsibility at what was then a nursing home on the brink of expansion. He served on committees, advised senior staff and eventually became board chairman from 1997 to 1999.
Those who worked with him said he brought a collaborative approach to an institution serving elderly and vulnerable members of the Jewish community.
“He was an excellent listener,” Eric West said. “He would hear all sides and then work with people to find solutions.”
Natalie West, his daughter-in-law and a former board chairwoman of Charles E. Smith Life Communities, said West believed deeply in the mission of caring for older adults.
“It was very important to him that the organization stay vital and continue to serve older adults with dignity,” she said. “That mission spoke to him, and he gave his time and energy to it.”
When West first became involved, the Hebrew Home functioned primarily as a nursing facility. During his years of service, the institution grew into a continuum of care that included independent living, assisted living, skilled nursing, rehabilitation and memory care. West supported that growth and helped guide the organization as it evolved.
Eric West said his father’s motivation grew out of family history and values.
“He came from immigrant parents and working-class people who helped each other,” he said. “He saw the Hebrew Home as an extension of that worldview — that we take care of our own.”
West also believed in drawing others into community life. Through the Men’s Club, he recruited friends and colleagues and helped create a culture of involvement that lasted beyond his own tenure.
“That Men’s Club became a seed for the next generations of leadership,” Eric West said. “He encouraged people to step up and be part of something bigger than themselves.”
Ronald West was born on Aug. 21, 1936, in Washington, D.C., to Gertrude and Abe West. His father owned a uniform clothing store in Georgetown, and his mother was a homemaker. The family was Jewish but not strictly observant, his daughter, Ilene Gordon, said.
“They were Jewish, definitely,” she said. “We weren’t terribly religious, but Judaism was always a part of life.”
West was married twice, first to Phyllis West for 61 years, before her death, and then later to Lynda Rothstein West.
The family belonged to Washington Hebrew Congregation. Their children were raised with Jewish education, celebrated holidays and traveled to Israel. Eric West described his father as culturally Jewish rather than religious, with a strong sense of identity shaped by history and community.
“He wasn’t a religious man,” Eric West said. “But his whole outlook on life came from being part of the Jewish community and a large family. One generation stands on the shoulders of the next.”
That sense of responsibility carried into his career. He earned both his undergraduate degree and law degree from George Washington University. He began as an accountant, became a tax attorney and later focused on estate law.
He helped found the firm Levitan, Ezrin, Cramer, West and Weinstein, and later West & Feinberg, P.C., where he continued working well into his later years. Even after formally retiring, he maintained a small client base and kept coming into the office regularly.
“He still worked almost half a day every day,” Gordon said. “People always turned to him.”
Family members said the calls and letters they received after his death confirmed what they already knew — that West was widely relied upon for advice about both legal and personal decisions.
“He was the first call for a lot of people,” his daughter said. “Whether it was legal advice or life advice, people trusted him.”
Eric West described his father as practical and grounded.
“He wasn’t someone who talked about feelings,” he said. “But he gave really good guidance, and people listened to him.”
Outside of work and community service, West maintained longstanding friendships and routines. He belonged to a book club for more than 60 years and played in a weekly card game for more than five decades. He loved sports, especially basketball, and played until about age 70. As a teenager, he was a member of the Washington All-City basketball team.
He followed Washington teams closely, cheering for the Redskins and keeping up with local sports. Friends also remembered him as an enthusiastic golfer and traveler.
At home, West was regarded as the family patriarch. He led holiday gatherings and was known for marking Thanksgiving each year with reflections on gratitude — gratitude for being American and for the existence of Israel as a Jewish homeland.
“He always talked about how lucky we were,” Eric West said. “Lucky to be Americans and lucky that Jews have a homeland.”
Those values also shaped the role he played within his family.
“He was the go-to person in our family who had wisdom and compassion,” Natalie West said. “He was a pillar.”
West is remembered by his children, Ilene and Eric, as a man whose life blended professional discipline with community responsibility and whose leadership shaped both an institution and a family.
“Our community lost a really good man,” Eric West said. “He showed people how to be part of something bigger than themselves.”
Ellen Braunstein is a freelance writer.
