Robert Michael Goldsmith

Bob was born on October 25, 1935, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, son of Frank and Nettie Goldsmith. He joined older brother, Barton, and was later followed by younger brother, Myron. From the start his life was unusual in that his parents told him his birthday was October 26, but when he enlisted in the Coast Guard he found the actual date was October 25, so he decided to thereafter celebrate both.

While in the Coast Guard, Bob served on the U.S.S. Halfmoon. Following a TBI injury he sustained aboard ship he was later posted to the Brooklyn Navy Yard assigned to the U.S. Navy for special services. When he was discharged and tested by the Navy for further education, his I.Q. was so high they took him off the beach and saw to it that he attended college.

In 1957, he entered from the Charles Morris Price School for Advertising and Journalism, a part of Temple University. Also there was his future wife, Cathy, who he married in 1960. Two children followed, a son, Neal, in 1964 and a daughter, Leslie, in 1967.

After graduating, Bob’s long and successful career was primarily focused on developing proprietary consumer goods, contracting for their manufacture and assisting their worldwide distribution for both his own company, in international marquee retail operations and in a high executive posting in a public corporation. For his own company, he also traded in international arbitrage, moving various inventories between countries.

During the last 20 years, his work was focused on his invention of a unique Barcode that changed its message when the product was not kept at the pre-determined temperature for which he received 53 worldwide patents. Since its creation, with the support of professional strategic consultants, Congressional funding and academia, he developed this exciting new product using the current barcode infrastructure to monitor any product that requires cold chain management — be it for product safety or quality.

As an offshoot of his international experience, he served as an advisor for economic development strategies and food safety issues to various governments, whether for advancement of their emerging economies or for established robust societies abroad; and

Noteworthy: For “sustained interest … generous input and assistance, good character, and first hand knowledge of particular problems faced by the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures,” Goldsmith was elected as a representative of those legislatures in North and South America.

Bob will be most remembered for his sense of style, incredible creativity, devastating wit and amazing writing skills. He would entertain any gathering with non-stop comedy routines and was especially fond of making children laugh. Being kind to others was his goal in life and he never passed a needy person without reaching out to them, usually with a five dollar bill in his hand. He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Catherine Hoster Goldsmith, his daughter Leslie Fisher Goldsmith, and predeceased by his son, Neal.