Obituary of Estelle Weinlein

Estelle Weinlein passed away on May 26 from complications associated with cancer. Estelle was born in North Tarrytown (now Sleepy Hollow), New York, the daughter of Sydney and Villa Pollock . She was raised in a "show business" family. Her father owned a number of barnstorming comedy baseball teams, the most famous of which was the Indianapolis Clowns in the Negro American League. Her grandfather owned a vaudeville theater , The Strand, in North Tarrytown. As a young girl Estelle frequently performed as a dancer and acrobat at The Strand or during the seventh inning stretch at a Clowns baseball game. Estelle was the salutatorian of her class at North Tarrytown High School. Before graduation, she agreed to join The Marvelettes, a professional group of six female acrobats touring the United States. Immediately following graduation, Estelle flew to San Francisco to join the Marvelettes and began her vaudeville career at The Golden Gate theater in San Francisco. After a couple years with The Marvelettes, Estelle joined Vera Typowitz (United States National Women's Tumbling champion for four years, 1939 to 1942) and her sister Nancy Typowitz (National Women's Tumbling runner-up to her sister for four years) to form a tumbling act named The Three Modernettes, which toured with U.S.O. during World War II. Thereafter Estelle toured theaters in the United States performing a solo dance and gymnastics act under the professional name Estelle Carroll (using her mother's maiden name). While performing her solo act at Murray's Inn in Albany, New York, Estelle met Alfonso Weinlein, the bandleader there. Estelle and Alfonso married in 1951 and thereafter performed as the duo, Estelle Carroll and Alfonso. They appeared on stage with many of the great entertainers and musicians of the time, including Frank Sinatra, Steve Lawrence, Danny Kaye, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton and Ethel Merman. Following the birth of their first child in 1955, Estelle and Alfonso moved to Poughkeepsie and opened their first dance studio at 368 Main Street. For many years their dance studio was located at 109 Cannon Street, Poughkeepsie. In 1985, Estelle and Alfonso opened their current facility at 4 Old Route 9, Fishkill, New York. Since its incorporation in 1959, Estelle has been the artistic director of the Mid-Hudson Ballet Company, which is in residence at the Estelle & Alfonso Performing Arts Complex. In 1976, the Poughkeepsie Business and Professional Women's Club named Estelle its "Women of the Year." The New York State Assembly also honored Estelle with a decree for her contribution to the youth of Poughkeepsie. Estelle was proud that many of her students sent their children, and then their grandchildren, to study dance with her. Estelle provided the training and inspiration for many of her students to achieve success in dance, theater or other areas of the entertainment industry. The list of such students is too long to enumerate here. Many more of her students simply credit Estelle with helping them develop poise, self-confidence, and other skills for life, including fitness, teamwork, discipline, and the willingness to work hard to achieve personal goals. The Estelle and Alfonso community loved Estelle dearly and will miss her greatly. Estelle is survived by her husband, Alfonso Weinlein, her brothers Donald and Jerome Pollock, her sister Valerie Petrovich, her sons Craig and Thad Weinlein, her daughter Taryn Weinlein, her granddaughters Megan, Cassandra and Sabrina Weinlein and her grandsons Chrisopher Weinlein and Alex and Andrew Milewski. Visitation will be held on Tuesday, June 2, from 4pm – to 8pm at the Timothy P. Doyle Funeral Home, Inc., 371 Hooker Avenue, Poughkeepsie. A funeral mass will be held on Wednesday, June 3, at 10:00am at St. Martin de Porres. Burial will follow in Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery.