Susan Goldberg

FALMOUTH - Susan T. Goldberg, 79, died Tuesday, June 12, 2018, after a courageous nine-year battle with Multiple Myeloma.

Susan was born in Portland at the Maine General Hospital on May 4, 1939, the daughter of Bella Berman Turitz and Harry M. Turitz.

She grew up in Portland, graduating from Deering High School in 1957. She graduated from Brandeis University in 1961, and in August of that year, married Jerry Goldberg, also of Portland.

They knew each other most of their lives and began dating when just 13-years old. Jerry was attending Cornell Law School at the time of their marriage, and Susan worked at the Department of Agricultural Economics at Cornell to help support them while he finished school.

They then moved to Boston for three years, before moving back to Portland, where Jerry opened his own law office and where they both had family and many friends. Susan worked as his secretary during that time. Although a wonderful writer and support to Jerry's practice, Susan focused instead on her most important calling, raising their three children, Brian, Amy and Julie.

In addition, she always made time for the community and cultural organizations she loved. She was an accomplished pianist and was committed to supporting young artists in their careers. Many times she housed students so they could compete in local piano competitions.

She spent countless hours as a volunteer, becoming president of Opera New England. She served in many capacities for multiple organizations in which she was involved. She served on the board of the Portland Public Library, where she not only was a member of the committee to build the library, but also went on to found the Brown Bag Lecture Series. She also served for many years on the board of the Portland Concert Association (now Ovations), where she was a member of the Artist Selection Committee and the first chair of the education committee. She served as co-chairman for the Jewish Federation Annual Campaign, volunteered for the Temple Beth El Sisterhood, National Council of Jewish Women, and the League of Women Voters, among other organizations.

Valuing her education at Brandeis University, she established the Susan Turitz Goldberg scholarship at her alma mater, and took great pleasure in learning about the students who benefited from it.

Later in life, Susan and Jerry became snowbirds and spent many winters in Boca Raton, Fla., where they developed another close group of friends, playing golf and enjoying the warm winters. They also enjoyed traveling to explore many wonderful locations throughout the world. However, she always returned home to Maine. She was an avid Red Sox fan, even watching the games from her hospital bed, and loved her comfort dog, a mini-dachshund named Brutus.

Even as Susan's disease progressed, she never stopped thinking of others. She was a continual resource and comfort to those who had cancer, making herself available to speak with anyone who wanted her insights. In the last years, at the recommendation of the medical staff at Dana Farber, she was selected to be an ambassador for the Takeda Pharmaceutical Company, where she was scheduled to travel the country to tell her story, and talk with physicians and patients about her experience living with multiple myeloma.

Family was the most important thing to Susan, and she is survived by her loving husband, Jerry, of Falmouth; her son, Brian and wife, Connie, of Portland; her daughter, Amy and husband, Jim, of Portland; and daughter, Julie of Alexandria, Va.; and three grandchildren, Sam, Kevin and Jacob Goldberg. She is also survived by her brother, David Turitz, his wife, Barbara, and their family as well as several cousins.

Susan thanks Doctors Helen Ryan and Fred Aronson, and their supportive staff: Susan, Summer and Rachel at the New England Cancer Specialists, as well as the members of the Multiple Myeloma Support Group at the Cancer Community Center.

She especially thanks Dr. Jacob Laubach, of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, who prescribed the many protocols which kept her going for so many years and enabled her and her husband to create so many more lasting memories with family and friends - including trips to Switzerland to visit a close family friend and a trip to complete a lifelong dream to go to Alaska with her children and grandchildren.

Susan's children were incredibly supportive during her long illness and she remembers them with love and gratitude. Jerry was always by her side, giving of himself above and beyond the norm. He was also a wonderful optimist, looking at the positive side of things and helping her fight this terrible disease. She will live on in the love of her family and many friends.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, June 15 at 11 a.m. at Temple Beth El, 400 Deering Ave., in Portland. Please visit

www.jonesrichbarnes.com

to leave a tribute and sign Susan's guestbook.

For anyone interested in making

contributions, Susan's family

has established the

Susan T. Goldberg Fund

at Temple Beth El

to be used for beautification

projects on the temple's grounds.