Isidore Goldberg

Isidore L. Goldberg was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 28, 1924. Known as “Larry” to all friends, he married Grace Reinhardt on September 4,1949 and remained married until her death in 2008. He is survived by two children, Robert Goldberg and Nancy Goldberg (Bryan Benesch). He has two grandsons, Max Goldberg (Jessica Flynn Goldberg) and Evan Benesch. Larry also has three children “adopted” as adults: Theresa Nguyen, Cathy Theofilus (George Theofilus), and Lisa Nguyen.

Larry served in the Armed Forces in World War II in the Artillery. He was trained in

Camp Gordon in Augusta, Georgia, Camp Blanding, Florida, and Fort Bragg, N.C. He received an honorable discharge in 1946 as a Staff Sergeant. During the war, he was stationed in Europe, i.e., Scotland, England, Germany, and France.

He earned his B.S. degree in 1948 with a major in physics from the Brooklyn College, where he met Grace. After graduation, Larry was employed as a physicist at Fort Monmouth in New Jersey. He took graduate math and physics classes at New York University (NYU), commuting by train from New Jersey. His coursework completed All But Dissertation (ABD) status but he chose to work instead of writing a PhD thesis. In 1960, he and his family relocated to Silver Spring so he could work as a physicist for NASA at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. His specialty fields were optics and infrared radiation.

In 1992, Larry retired from NASA and went to work for SWALES, where he remained until 1998. After retirement, Larry continued to keep his mind sharp by researching and writing papers on cosmology.

Larry was known for his quick wit, sense of humor, and sharp mind. Some said that even at age 100, he was one of the sharpest people in the room. During his life, he enjoyed many hobbies, including play reading, square dancing, bridge playing, oil painting, current events, and puzzles, especially sudoku.

Charitable donations can be made in his memory to Tikvat Israel Congregation.