A well known glass industry figure,Edward"Eddie"Goldberg passed away November 22.Goldberg spent his entire working life in the glass industry,most recently as partner of New York's Utica Glass.
"I think if you had the chance to meet Ed even once,you'd remember him:his booming voice,his beaming smile,his snappy outfits.His wife Sherry said that he put on a sport coat to rake leaves,"says John Dwyer,president of Syracuse Glass Co.
"A lot of us support industry groups and attend meetings,but Ed would seek these groups out with a passion:the builders'exchanges,the glass industry trade groups,CSI,contractor groups,the industry workers'comp.safety group.He loved to socialize with the people he worked with and to meet people he might like to work with or have fun with,"Dwyer remembers."He thought it was great that people were spending more time with their families today than was common when he was younger,but he missed the days when 60 couples from the Utica builders exchange would spend a weekend in Lake Placid together,for example."
"And the stories!"Dwyer says."He was in the glass business since the early 1950's,and since Sherry's family had a glass business,H Perilstein in Philadelphia,and his family was in the glass business too,he had stories from another couple of generations before him even."
Recalling one story,Dwyer says,"Ken Hunt,a sales rep for LOF and then Interpane,and a dear friend of Ed and Sherry,was living in Buffalo,and he was driving down the thruway in a big snowstorm.He pulled off in Utica,stayed with Ed and Sherry overnight,and got back on his way in the morning.Ken's wife Lovey called Ed the next day and asked Ed if Ken had stayed with them.Ed denied it,so Lovey hit Ken on the head with a frying pan!"
And another:"A couple years ago,I mentioned to Ed that we were returning from Cape Cod,and he mentioned that the Goldbergs would load the sunfish sailboat on top of the car and take family vacations there years ago when the kids were little.One year they couldn't go,so he rigged the sunfish up in the back yard and turned the lawn sprinkler on the boat and the crew,and they did their sailing there in the yard and had as much fun as they would have in the Massachusetts Bay,"Dwyer says."Who would think to do that?I'll tell you who...a guy I got to know by the name of Ed Goldberg."
"Eddie truly cared a ton for what we all do,"adds Max Perilstein,founder of Sole Source Consultants."Eddie always greeted me--and most others--with a great smile and handshake,and could immediately jump into any of the issues affecting our world with ease....No matter what role Eddie held in the businesses he owned and worked at,he always took the same classy approach:always welcoming,always looking forward."
A memorial service will be held at noon,Monday,November 26,at Shalom Memorial Park in Huntingdon Valley,Pa.Shiva will be observed at the Goldberg home 7 p.m.through Wednesday evening.Contributions in Eddie Goldberg's memory can be made to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center of New York Presbyterian Weil Cornell Hospital.
