FAIRFIELD, CONN. – Morris David Kronenfeld, 93, a distinguished leader in Jewish communal affairs for over 60 years, passed away on Feb. 14.

Born in the Bronx, N.Y., June 7, 1912, to Lena Stolz Kronenfeld and Jacob Kronenfeld, Moe, as known by his friends, first gained community wide recognition in his school athletic achievements, which included being a member of the New York City All-Star baseball team in 1929.

After graduating from NYU, he began his professional career as a social worker at the Bronx House Settlement and activities director at the Washington Heights YM-YWHA. During World War II, he served in Anniston, Ala., as director of one of the largest USO Clubs in the country, later becoming area director for Washington, D.C.

In 1945, Mr. Kronenfeld was appointed executive director for both the Stamford Jewish Community Center and the United Jewish Appeal. He relocated to Maine in 1952, becoming executive director of the Lewiston-Auburn Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Federation representative, later holding similar executive positions in Newburgh, N.Y., and Norwalk, Conn.

He was instrumental in raising funds to build the Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield, Conn., where he recently resided until his death.

In the 1970s, Mr. Kronenfeld served as regional director of the Zionist Organization of America, overseeing Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and central New York. Upon his retirement in 1989, the ZOA recognized his 60 years of distinguished community service with the coveted Justice Louis D. Brandeis Award. Former Connecticut Gov. William A. O’Neill acknowledged that he “served the community with great distinction and dedication and earned the respect and admiration of all who knew him and his work.”

Morris D. Kronenfeld was married to the late Edith Lateiner Kronenfeld of New Rochelle, N.Y. Their two children, Richard Kronenfeld of Stamford, Conn., and Vicki Hodges of Winter Park, Fla., as well as three grandsons, Jared, Ryan and William, survive him.

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