Adele Brawer Baydin

BAYDIN, Adele Brawer Dingfelder "Del" of Tampa passed away Thursday, March 27, 2025, surrounded by her loving family. Born on March 3rd 1930, Adele was a proud native of Paterson, N.J. and graduate of Eastside High. She started college at Smith (Mass.) and then, after having three kids and polio, finished her B.A. in Art History at the Univ. of Tampa. She obtained her Masters degree in mental health counseling at NYU and worked in that field with great compassion.

Adele was a vivacious person, full of vigor and zest, throughout her life. Having studied under Martha Graham as a teen, she loved to dance and continued doing so into her late years, despite having a very weak leg from her polio. Adele loved art, theater, music, literature, and museums. In the early 1960s, she was the first Executive Director of the Tampa Museum of Art. An accomplished pianist, she loved singing show tunes and regularly took on new challenges, including cello lessons in her mid-60s. Adele saw beauty and art in everything. Her homes were filled with collages and mixed media dioramas made from strange “found objects”. After selling their Manhattan jewelry store Adele and husband Sam retired to Tucson and made pottery together in kilns in their backyard…Sam made the pots and Adele decorated them!

Adele loved politics and in her 60s hosted her own “ACLU” civil liberties show on local television in Tucson. During her second retirement in Tampa, she was often seen holding her favorite candidate’s campaign signs on street-corners and at polling locations on election day. She read the N.Y. Times cover to cover daily and her favorite TV stations were C-Span and PBS. Adele was interested in everything and even in her 90s she was always eager to be informed and discuss the “news of the day”.

Adele loved men and she loved telling stories about the men who loved her. She outlived two husbands and several paramours, but she never shed a tear, as she was an incredible optimist. Regret, shame, and grief played a very small role in her long life and perhaps partially explained her longevity. Happiness and delight were her first reaction to most circumstances, even those that were objectively difficult.

She was a fantastic grandmother to her nine grandchildren. She loved and supported all her progeny fiercely and was loved and supported fiercely in return. Adele never “met a stranger” and she leaves a huge hole in the hearts of all who knew and loved her. Friends and family, so grateful to have her in our lives, gathered recently to help Adele celebrate her 95th birthday. She enjoyed herself all weekend with a big smile on her face, feeling the love and reveling in the celebration.

Survivors include her children, Jan Bush (Bill), Bill Dingfelder (Laura Cohn), John Dingfelder (Lynn), and Jeffrey Baydin (Lynda), grandchildren; Kate Saladino (Ron), Sadie Dingfelder (Steve), Lisa Bloomquist (Mark), Hilary Kratz (Louis), Saul Dingfelder (Katharine), Daniel Cohn, Mara Kanner (Jason), Alex Baydin (Lindsay) and Christopher Humpherys (Brandy) and 11 great-grandchildren including the youngest and her namesake … “Claire Adele.” Adele is predeceased by her parents, Isaac and Tibe Brawer, her sister, Norma Brawer Sauer, son Richard Baydin and husbands Sam Baydin and Simon Dingfelder.

A graveside service will be held Thursday, April 3rd at 10:00 AM at the Congregation Schaarai Zedek cemetery, 3508 N. Ola Avenue, Tampa. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in her honor to Schaarai Zedek, or the ACLU.