STEVEN IRA GINSBERG

Steven Ira Ginsberg, 78, a solo attorney, well known for his quiet integrity, a cyclist who chaired the annual Cowtown Classic Bike Ride and a community builder with a musical thread throughout his life, died Friday at the James L. West Center surrounded by family and friends.

Challenged in recent years with Parkinson’s disease, Steven set an example as his spirit pushed forward with rhythm and grace even when speech and memory were harder to hold.

Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Sunday, May 25, at Beth-El Congregation, 4900 Briarhaven Road, where Steven was among the talented few who sounded the shofar, the ram’s horn, at High Holy Day services. Burial will be 11 a.m., Tuesday, in the Beth-El section of Greenwood Memorial Park, 3100 White Settlement Rd. Rabbis Brian Zimmerman and Ralph Mecklenburger will officiate.

Steven was born in Tyler on Nov. 3, 1946. His father Hyman Ginsberg and his mother Fannie raised Steven and his sister Doris in a loving, intellectually rich home rooted in Jewish tradition. Steven grew up attending Tyler’s Ahavath Achim Synagogue, where his spiritual foundation was formed. At Robert E. Lee High School, Steven played cornet in the band and with the East Texas Symphony Orchestra. His expertise with the brass horn led him to sound the shofar during his years chairing the Ritual Committee at Beth-El. When the next ritual chair asked Steven to continue in that role, he gently declined, saying sacred honors should be shared with others. That quiet humility was signature Steve.

A graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans, Steven earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology in 1968. He continued his education at Southern Methodist University Law school, where he earned his Juris Doctor in 1971. He served a Associate Editor of the Journal of Air Law and Commerce, the oldest scholarly periodical devoted to legal and economic problems affecting aviation and space.

While a student at Tulane, Steven met and fell in love with Jeanne Kemp, a coed at Newcomb College. Their love story blossomed over shared meals, games, and long conversations. In 1969, the couple married in her hometown, Anniston, Alabama, at Temple Beth El, the state’s oldest synagogue, a landmark constructed in 1891. During more than five decades together, Steven and Jeanne built a life of intellectual exploration, family joy, music, and subtle mischief.

From 1971to 1975, Steven worked in Washington, DC, at the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, collaborating with federal judges nationwide. Beginning in 1972, he also served the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a foundational chapter in a career marked by integrity, precision, and quiet leadership.

Returning to Texas, Steven established a solo legal practice in Fort Worth. A true “lone wolf,” he found satisfaction in his independence, practicing law with deep focus, without showmanship, gaining quiet respect from colleagues and clients.

An avid cyclist, Steven trained in the hills of Anniston and the open roads of Texas, frequently riding before work and on weekend bike excursions with friends. His involvement in the Cowtown Classic was foundational and far reaching. As president and vice-president of the Kiwanis Club of Fort Worth-Southwest, which operates the ride, he helped found its charitable wing, raising funds for the Life After Cancer Program at Cook Children’s Hematology and Oncology Center.

Beyond Fort Worth’s bicycle trails, Steven was a regular at races such as Tyler’s Beauty and the Beast Bicycle Tour and Race; Austin’s annual Ride for the Roses; Weatherford’s annual Peach Pedal; and Wichita Falls’ notorious Hotter ’N Hell Hundred endurance ride. After a serious bike accident in 2011 that left him with a broken hip, Steven transitioned to a recumbent trike, outfitted with bright pennants so family could spot him from a distance. He never rode without a helmet. True to his nature, he adapted and continued forward.Steven shared his time and gifts as a board member of Beth-El Congregation, The Women’s Center of Tarrant County and Special Olympics Texas. At Streams & Valleys, he contributed to local trail development. Steven’s creativity extended to photography, developing his unique images in a home darkroom.

He loved classical music, jazz, and classic rock, and he introduced his children and grandchildren to it all. He had a profound appreciation for structure, harmony, and timing—which perhaps explains his vast repertoire of “dad jokes” that could make even the most skeptical grandchild groan (and then laugh).While quiet and reserved in most moments, Steven was the first to the dance floor—at weddings, parties, or just in the living room. His “Bird-Dog” move was legendary: all hips, finger snaps and proud rhythm, delivered with total conviction and zero self-consciousness.In his later years, Steven faced a series of challenges, including Parkinson’s disease and the early signs of dementia—conditions that came too soon and worked too hard to slow him down. Even as his body changed, his spirit pushed forward. Refusing to give up motion, when cycling outdoors was no longer safe, he cycled indoors at home. He found other outlets—playing drums on a practice pad with heavy marching-band sticks, keeping rhythm even when speech or memory were harder to hold.

With his three grandchildren, Steven remained fully present. He would FaceTime with them regularly, and when they played basketball in the driveway, he would sit in a lawn chair in sunglasses, cheering like a sideline super-fan.During the COVID-19 pandemic, Steven and Jeanne created a remarkable tradition: a weekly music-history lesson for their grandchildren— granddaughter Grant Ginsberg and grandsons Jack and Mark Matthews. These sessions were anything but casual. They came with written outlines, audio selections and visual references, spanning classical composers to blues musicians. To Steven, these were not just lessons, but a living legacy, and he and the grandkids would often trade licks on the piano and violin from afar.Steve was predeceased by his parents, Fannie and Hyman Ginsberg, and his sister, Doris Ginsberg Diamond. He is survived by his wife Jeanne Ginsberg, his daughter Lisa Ginsberg Matthews (Joe), his son Michael Ginsberg (Orianne), three grandchildren, and nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. 

In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to Beth-El Congregation, 4900 Briarhaven Rd., Fort Worth, 76109, and Jewish Family Service of Fort Worth and Tarrant County, 4049 Kingsridge Rd., Fort Worth 76109, or James L. West Center, 1111 Summit Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76102.

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