Hebrew Cemetery

By Kevin Levine

Your Hebrew Cemetery Association of Charlotte (HCA) serves every facet of the greater Charlotte Jewish community, spanning from unaffiliated to the most observant. As one of the many who invest personal time and treasure, I believe that your cemetery should have the very best final resting place and holy grounds we can afford and sustain. It should be well maintained and provide the highest level of service and most respectful care for those in their time of loss and grief. It must be a place of peaceful serenity, securing those interred, while welcoming family and friends to feel safe and comfortable while visiting. Your HCA is that place because of your support and good stewardship.

Volunteers have a connection to the institutions we choose to serve. My connection to the HCA is my desire to help care for those in need and to continue a long family history of service to the HCA. My husband Louis’s family (Morris B. and son, Alfred Smith, and M. Benjamin Sinkoe) were lifelong servant leaders of the HCA. Pictured below are some of the Smith descendants, Drew Grey, Louis Sinkoe, and Danny Levinson. My connection is through them. It was important to them, and I receive much personal reward in helping others. I am proud to now serve as the association’s president and celebrate my 18th year of volunteering with this important and worthy institution.

Having attended many funerals as a teenager and young adult, I noticed things that were handled well and those that could have been handled better. In the 1980s and 1990s, the cemetery needed much improvement. Thanks to the leadership and contributions of many and heavy work of a few, your HCA is a shining star as cemeteries go. It is well funded and professionally operated; it is a place I feel I can rest peacefully in when my time comes. Yes, at 48 years of age, Louis and I purchased graves and had our plans in writing. I hope you make plans too. I also hope you find your connection to a cause and serve by committing time or treasure or in whatever way you feel comfortable.

The HCA welcomes those desiring to serve, purchase graves, and financially support through annual membership, donations, or legacy gifts. For more information, visit our website: Hebrewcemetery.org, email me at hklclt@gmail.com, or call our director, Sandra Goldman at (704) 576.1859.