Robert Alan Goldberg, J.D.


Robert Alan Goldberg passed away peacefully on Friday, April 25, 2025 at Broward Health Medical Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

“This obituary was written by Robert in his own words.”

“Bobby” as he was only known to people who knew him 50 or more years ago, and “Rob”, “Robby” or “Robert” thereafter, was born on December 20, 1949 to his beloved mom, whom he especially cherished, Selma (Blum) Goldberg, and and his beloved dad, A. Alfred Goldberg, of Pawtucket and East Greenwich, RI, and later Lake Worth, FL, without whose unwavering love and support throughout his successful and privileged life, his life would have been less so.
His beloved brother, Marshall Goldberg, as well as his parents, predeceased him.

Robert had no other close relatives, other than his dear former wife, Maurisa Berry Goldberg, of Cranston, RI, without whose generous love and support during and after their marriage, he doubted he would have survived; his dear cousin Tena (Marks) Nauheim of Vienna, VA, and her late husband, David Harrison; his dear cousin, Karen (Goldberg) Harris and her husband Perry of Newport, RI; his dear cousins David and Colleen Nauheim of Charleston, SC, and Terry (Nauheim) Goodman and her husband, Aaron Goodman, and their sons: Nathan and Zachary Goodman, of Palos Verdes Estates, CA; and many dear cousins on the Blum side of his family who are too numerous to mention, other than Lori (Reitzas) Elias of Warwick Neck, RI, whom he was proud to have ‘fixed up’ with her future husband, Jay Elias when Jay and Robert practiced law together in Providence and they married shortly thereafter over 40 years ago, about whose marriage her beloved grandfather, the late Sidney ‘Uncle Bud’ Reitzas told Robert at their wedding he was ‘over the moon about!’

Robert graduated from Charles E. Shea High School, Pawtucket, RI, where he grew up and his dad practiced dentistry for some 30 years. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, and a Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from Boston College Law School, Chestnut Hill, MA.

He practiced law in Providence and Boston for 30 years, the last 12 years or so as general counsel of Guaranty Fund, a consortium of insurance insolvency funds in Boston, before retiring to his ICW Beaufort, SC home 20 years ago and then to South Florida 15 years ago.

During his retirement years, because of his love of flying and travel, having visited 65+ countries, many multiple times each, on 6 continents, and accumulating 2,000,000+ frequent flyer miles on American Airlines and its OneWorld partners attaining AAdvantage Lifetime Platinum status, on a whim and out of sheer boredom, he applied to be, was accepted for training as and became a flight attendant for Delta Air Lines which he described as “the best job I ever had“ because he got to make people smile every day and make their experience flying with him a happier and more memorable one for all the right reasons. He received 13 commendations from passengers during those Delta years, of which he was most proud.

In addition, he leaves several great friends of 30 + years: his best friend, Todd R. Stevens of New York, NY, their respective lives having been mutually saved by each other under different but nonetheless most extraordinary circumstances; Todd happily reminded Robert in his later life when he felt Robert needed to be reminded that “Robert was a raconteur and bon vivant in his younger years and the center of the universe of a group of wonderful friends in Boston, who appreciated and admired his intellect, humor, generosity of spirit (and otherwise), kindness and loyalty”; Ana Maria Rosales, MD of Chestnut Hill, MA and her husband Michael Wootton; their son David; her mom Itala; and their dog Copper. The first time he met Copper a few years ago, he immediately lunged for Robert’s face! We decided it was because of the baseball cap Robert was wearing that he did not appreciate, not his face; of lesser years were his friends Daniel Via and his husband Nelson Gonzales of Fort Washington, MD; and Robert’s former partner, Todd M. A. Farrell of Chicago, IL who, during his final illness blessed and graced him with incredible support and remembrances of special times during the years they spent together, some of which Robert had to be reminded of, which made his spirits soar and caused ‘happy’ tears to flow.

Even older friends (of some 70 years!) were Maxine ‘Mickey’ Berry of Pompano Beach, FL and Cape Cod, MA, and Barbara and Harold Shlevin of Pompano Beach, FL, whom Robert met at Mrs. Steinas’s preschool in Pawtucket, RI. Also a friend of some 70 years was the childhood ‘girlfriend’ of his late brother Marshall in the 4th grade and best friends for decades thereafter, whom Marshall introduced to his best friend, James Reitzas and they later married, Robbie Morgan Reitzas Burke; and she and Robert never forgot each other but reconnected at his dear cousin and Robbie‘s former sister-in-law Lois (Blum) Reitzas’s funeral a few years ago when each of them recognized the other from a distance; and they have been inseparable electronically and in each other‘s presence and hearts ever since, along with her husband, Jay Burke.

A graveside service will be held at Swan Point Cemetery, 585 Blackstone Boulevard, Providence, RI on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, at 10:00 am.

Donations in Robert’s memory may be made to The Preservation Society of Newport County, ‘in memory of Robert Goldberg..

At Robert’s request, no shiva will be observed.

For additional information or to send the family a written expression of sympathy, please visit an online guest book at www.dyer-lakefuneralhome.com .

Arrangements are under the direction of the Dyer-Lake Funeral Home, 161 Commonwealth Avenue, Village of Attleboro Falls, North Attleboro. (508) 695-0200.