Obituary of Edward Goodstein

GOODSTEIN, Edward - 94, Of Grand Pre, passed away rather suddenly, after a one day illness, early Monday morning Sept 12th, 2011. Ed had been well, and his usual self until his last dialysis on Saturday, the 10th; so most of us were surprised at his sudden death. After all, he had special food requests right up to the end -having had an order in for Dutch Oven Bread, and smoked Chesapeake Bluefish Pate on Ryvita crackers, that Friday. Ed was born June 12th, 1917 and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Six months later he lost his mother, Hannah, from Richmond, Virginia, in the great Spanish Flu epidemic. His grandmother and aunts Rose and Blanche brought him up. He was given a charge account at the neighbourhood deli, and his father, Authur, brought him boxes of books to read each week; and so began his lifelong appetite for interesting foods and books. Ed went to Boys High School in New York where he was Captain of the Rifle Team, played Lacrosse and Football and studied History. He went to Columbia Law school for two years, before he changed his mind and went to Washington, DC, where he married his high school sweetheart, Sylvia Stern in 1940. In 1942 he began to work for the Federal Government where he started as a GS-1 Clerk typist, and progressed to Deputy Director for Budget in the National Labour Relations Board of the USA. Ed retired in 1972 and came to Nova Scotia to start a Pottery in Grand Pre. He was married a second time, to Betsy Stuart in 1972, who he met in pottery class in Washington DC. They were married for 40 years before he was predeceased by Betsy last March, and started renal dialysis in June that year. He is survived by 6 children: Dan and Naomi Goodstein; and Leslie, Mary, John and Eric Houck; by 18 grandchildren; and by 8 great grandchildren. Ed and Betsy ran the pottery together for 19 years, and represented Nova Scotia at the Cultural Olympics in 1976. Both were early members of the NS Designer Craft Council, and spent 6 months in the Caribbean developing a local pottery industry on the island of Montserrat. As an example of native crafts, their students work represented Montserrat at Expo 86. More recently, they fully restored the Jeremiah Caulkin House and moved it from the Biggs Farm to their land on the Old Post Road in Grand Pre, where it was listed as a Heritage Property. Memorial service will be held at the Grand Pre Community Centre, from 3-5PM, on Sat. Sept. 17th. His grandson, Abram Goodstein will speak, and then the family would love to hear from anyone with good "Ed stories" from over the years. We think there may be a few! Thank you to Cheryl Pick, Pat Clifford, Dr Wayne Phillips, the VON Home Care team, and the super group at the VGH Dialysis Centre, for keeping his quality of life so high for the last few years. We were lucky to know him, although Ed might say, "Don't kid yourself!" Arrangements are under the care and direction of Serenity Lindsay Funeral Home, 568 Main Street Wolfville, Nova Scotia, B4P 1E7. Donations and condolences may be sent to the above address or online at : www.serenitylindsayfuneralhome.ca