Gregory L. Goldberg

Gregory Cyril Leonardo Goldberg, fancifully named by his mother who was a poet, named for a pope, a Roman or Greek poet, and Leonardo DaVinci, and known as Gregory L. Goldberg, was born on October 13, 1926 in Chicago. He was the son of Ashton Goldberg and Beulah Hendricks-Young Goldberg, and brother of Velleda and Lowell, whom Gregory's son Lowell is named for. Gregory and his siblings, with their parents and then with just their mother, lived in New Jersey and New York City. Later, Gregory went to the New York College of Music and studied music and piano. After marrying Esther Mandel, he had two children: Valerie and Lowell, and he became a life insurance salesman to support the family.

Gregory had multiple talents. He was a fine pianist with a love of classical piano music, especially the music of Chopin, Schubert, Beethoven, Bach and Scarlatti. He had design and drawing ability, enabling him to draw portraits and design and build dual function furniture -- he designed and built a coffee table with two sides of the top that slid open to a storage compartment beneath. He also designed and built waist-high bookshelves with top recesses to allow for the placement of flower pots. In addition, Gregory designed and built a beautiful silver and bronze metal chess set that he created on a lathe. He loved to laugh and make others laugh, with his humor and the love of telling jokes. He was a good swimmer and diver, he played tennis and golf and taught his children how to play tennis and golf, and he got his family involved in other activities like piano and violin lessons, family voice lessons, etc. Gregory and his wife Esther sang with the opera chorus, and Gregory sang solo at a club in Manhattan, Champaign Galleries.

After being widowed from Esther, Gregory became re-acquainted with Sylvia, also known as Terry, a childhood friend of his sister's, who also loved music and laughter, and they were together ever since. He also became close with Terry's family -- Terry's daughter Barbara and her grandchildren Andrew and Sarah.

Gregory lived a long life until age 97. He passed away peacefully in his sleep on Monday morning January 15, 2024. He is survived by Terry, son Lowell (and Lowell's partner Sandy and her daughter Anna), daughter Valerie and Son-In-Law Jim, grandchildren Bryan (and his wife Becky) and Michael (and his wife Leah), and great grandchildren Elly and Ziggy, and Olivia. He is also survived by Terry's daughter Barbara, and Terry's grandchildren Andrew and Sarah, and Terry's great grandchildren Lionel and Nathaniel. Additionally, he is survived by his sister Velleda's children, Ellen and William.

Funeral Services for Gregory will be held Friday January 19, 2024 1:00PM at the Riverside Memorial Chapel 100 Saw Mill River Road, Hawthorne, New York 10532. Following Services, interment will be at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery 80 Commerce Street Hawthorne, NY. For any additional information, please call The Riverside Memorial Chapel at 914-664-6800.