Local officials remember former Rockville city councilmember
Beryl Feinberg, who also worked in county government, died Sunday from pancreatic cancer
By
Ceoli JacobyAugust 12, 2026 10:45 a.m.
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Beryl Feinberg, a longtime civil servant who spent a decade as a member of the Rockville City Council, died Sunday following a brief battle with pancreatic cancer, according to officials who knew her. She was 75 years old.
Feinberg first won election to a two-year term on the Rockville City Council in 2013. After the city extended councilmembers’ terms from two to four years, Feinberg won re-election to four-year terms in 2015 and in 2019. She opted not to seek a fourth term in 2023.
For her final election, Feinberg ran as a member of the Rockville Forward slate with then-incumbent Mayor Bridget Donnell Newton and Monique Ashton, then a first-time candidate for City Council.
Ashton, now the mayor of Rockville, told Bethesda Today in a Tuesday interview that Feinberg was instrumental in getting her first campaign off the ground. “She was an early mentor and collaborator,” Ashton said.
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As a councilmember, Ashton said Feinberg “cared deeply about the budget” and was known for asking “tough questions” about how current spending would support the city’s long-term fiscal responsibilities.
Feinberg sought to ensure that new communities in Rockville were designed thoughtfully — Ashton remembered her late colleague as being a proponent of “tot lots” for families with young children — and with attention paid to school and infrastructure capacity.
She also was invested in emergency management, helping to establish the Maryland Municipal League’s Hometown Emergency Preparedness Ad Hoc Committee, Ashton said. In response to Bethesda Today’s voters guide for the 2019 city election, Feinberg cited “strengthening Rockville’s safety” as her greatest accomplishment in office.
Rockville City Councilmember Adam Van Grack, who first won election in 2023, wrote in a Monday statement posted to social media that he and Feinberg “shared a particularly special connection as the two most recent Rockville Councilmembers elected from neighborhoods west of I-270.”
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“She understood deeply how important it is that every neighborhood and every part of our city has a voice,” Van Grack wrote.
Feinberg spent her professional career supporting local government agencies such as the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System, according to her obituary.
In 1989, her obituary said, Feinberg joined the Montgomery County government, beginning a 28-year tenure that included 15 years in the Office of Management and Budget. Feinberg retired as the deputy director and chief operating officer at the Department of General Services, County Executive Marc Elrich (D) wrote in a statement Monday.
“Colleagues across the executive and legislative branches knew her as rigorous, principled, and unfailingly prepared,” Elrich wrote of Feinberg.
Among the highlights of Feinberg’s professional career was her role in creating Project Search Montgomery, a program that helps people with disabilities gain skills and suitable employment in county government, according to her obituary.
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Feinberg also supported equal access to employment as a member of the board of directors for Rockville’s Sunflower Bakery, which provides professional training for young adults and teens with learning differences.
“Beryl’s support went far beyond her service on the Board,” the bakery wrote in a Tuesday statement posted to social media. “She volunteered whenever she could and was a constant, active presence at Sunflower events and activities. Her belief in the talents, potential, and dignity of every person reflected the very heart of our mission.”
Feinberg is survived by her husband, Edward, son Jeremy, and her grandchildren Max and Tyler, according to her obituary. Ashton said being a grandparent came easily to Feinberg, who was “so proud of her growing family.”
“We will keep talking about her so that they know that they’re growing up with her, even though she’s no longer with us,” Aston said.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine