Shirley B. Goldberg, Harford Community College registrar, dies at 100

Frederick N. Rasmussen, Baltimore Sun
·3 min read

Shirley B. Goldberg, a former Harford Community College registrar who was active in her community, died March 15 of complications from a stroke at her home in Tinton Falls, New Jersey. The former Bel Air resident was 100.

“She was a very dignified and classy lady who was also very kind,” said a son, Steven Matthew “Matt” Goldberg, of Severna Park.

“She was a very graceful and diplomatic person who was really a very well-rounded person,” he said.

Shirley Gloria Brunstein, the daughter of Meyer Brunstein, and Fannie Fleishman, both garment workers, was born in Manhattan and raised in Brooklyn, New York.

She was a graduate of James Madison High School, and in 1944, married her high school sweetheart, Stanley Asher Goldberg, while he was serving in the Army during World War II.

During the war, Mrs. Goldberg worked in New York City as a draftsperson for Bell Laboratories.

When her husband was discharged at war’s end, he became a chemical plant inspector for the federal government, and his work took the family to Wabash, Indiana, and New Martinsville, West Virginia.

In 1952, the couple moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where they lived for eight years until settling in Bel Air, when her husband was appointed chief science officer at Edgewood Arsenal on Aberdeen Proving Ground.

While living in Williamsport, the couple had been active members of Temple Beth Ha Sholom.

From 1966 to 1986 when she retired, Mrs. Goldberg was the registrar at Harford Community College in Bel Air.

Mrs. Goldberg also immersed herself in her community and was a longtime volunteer for the League of Women Voters.

She was a bowler and member of the now-defunct Bel Air Athletic Club, which used her photograph for publicity materials, her son said.

She and her husband enjoyed taking cruises and visiting historic sites, especially in Annapolis.

Mrs. Goldberg maintained an interest in design, visual arts and theater, and attended Baltimore Symphony Orchestra concerts.

She was a seamstress.

“She was always taking me and my brother to plays in order to give us a little culture,” said her son, Matt, with a laugh.

In 2004, she left Bel Air and moved to Seabrook Village in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, where she lived until her death.

Mrs. Goldberg attained centenarian status, her son said, by living a life of moderation and monitoring her diet.

“She didn’t overeat and ate a great deal of fish and not a lot of sweets,” Mr. Goldberg said.

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“She kept things simple and cooked with little fat. She also avoided junk food and ate a lot of vegetables,” he said. “Out of a seven-day week, she ate salmon five times a week for dinner.”Mrs. Goldberg kept physically active.

“She walked everywhere, and she walked fast,” her son said. “After all, she was a New York girl.”

Barbara Fourt, a niece of La Honda, California, said: “Shirley was a warm and caring woman. She was also a strong and intelligent woman, one who stood up for what she believed in, with that same warmth and caring.”

Mrs. Goldberg’s husband died in 1996.

Graveside services will be held at 1 p.m. April 5 at the Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery at 11501 Garrison Forest Road in Owings Mills.

In addition to Steven Matthew “Matt” Goldberg, she is survived by another son, Richard Robert Goldberg, of Ocean Township, New Jersey; five grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; a niece; and a nephew.