Jesse Margolin, 89

Successful lawyer, philanthropist and devoted family man Jesse Margolin died from complications of leukemia on Nov. 11. He was 89.

Born on Nov. 19, 1928, Margolin lived in Hewlett as a teenager and graduated from Woodmere High School (built in 1926, demolished in the early 1980s) and is among the 157 graduates from that school as well as Hewlett High School that have been elected to the Hewlett-Woodmere Alumni Association’s Hall of Fame. A plaque with his photograph is displayed on a wall of Hewlett High.

Margolin went on to New York University at Washington Heights, where he served as student body president, and then attended Yale Law School. For more than 60 years, he practiced law and was a partner at Becker Ross, LLP in Manhattan. His principal focus was corporate law and nonprofit organizations. The American Bar Association’s Nonprofit Corporation Law Committee honored him with a lifetime achievement award.  

Committed to various charitable activities, Margolin was a supporter of numerous Jewish and Israel-related organizations including as an active member of American Jewish Committee, an advocacy group for Israel and the Jewish people, and was the founder and first president of the Long Island chapter, chairman of their National Legal Committee and member of their National Board of Governors.

Margolin, who lived in Woodmere for 55 years, also served as an officer and director of several foundations dedicated to human rights, civil rights and health care. He was involved with the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights and the Fund for Global Human Rights. He also supported American Friends of Hebrew University.

The American Jewish Committee, Temple Beth El of Cedarhurst and the United Jewish Appeal-Federation of New York honored him for his volunteer efforts.

“His children and grandchildren aspire to follow the examples that Jesse set in life,” said son Michael Margolin.

He is survived by his wife Barbara, who is known to friends as Toni; three children, Michael, David and Susan; and seven grandchildren; and a wide circle of dear friends.

A funeral service was held at Boulevard-Riverside Chapels in Hewlett on Nov. 13. He was interred at Mt. Ararat Cemetery in Lindenhurst.