Samuel Goldfarb '46
Samuel Goldfarb '46, a World War II veteran and member of the first post-war graduating class, passed away on October 21, three months short of his 100th birthday. Reflections of his long life and varied accomplishments were provided by the Goldfarb family and Samuel himself. Goldfarb was interviewed for our "Celebrating Centenarians" project.
All his life, Samuel Goldfarb was fun-loving, boyish, charming, generous, bookish, musical, relentless and very smart. He loved his family more than anything and always strove to be a good husband and father. Goldfarb took his familial and civic responsibilities very seriously and was a life-long and active Democrat. He attributed his nearly 100 years of longevity to his abundant consumption of pickled foods and Hebrew National Salami.
Goldfarb was born in New York City on January 20, 1921, very shortly after his family arrived in the U.S. via Ellis Island. His parents, Nissen and Chava Zelda, and older brother, Avram (who later changed their names to Nathan, Eva and Albert), had emigrated from Brest-Litovsk, Poland, the previous year. As soon as Sam was old enough to travel by train to California, in March 1921, the family headed west to Los Angeles, where they had relatives. When they arrived, Uncle Mandel chided them, “You are too late. All the opportunities are gone.”
Goldfarb experienced nearly 100 years in his beloved city and was full of stories about the neighborhoods of old L.A., old Hollywood and the development of California in the 20th century. He loved taking his grandchildren to his old haunts and restaurants, including Bunker Hill, where he and his mob of cousins started out, Angel’s Flight, the Santa Monica Pier, Phillippe’s, Langer’s, Musso and Frank Grill and El Coyote.
After graduating from Fairfax High in 1939, Goldfarb attended UCLA for three years, before leaving for the Army in 1942. At induction, like most college boys, he was given aptitude and I.Q. tests, and, as a result, was not sent to battle right away. First, it was off to Stanford University to study Italian. Next, he spent a few months at UC Berkeley learning artillery geometry and nearly a year at the University of Denver to learn German. Finally, he spent some time in Texas to become a cartographer. While in stationed in Texas, Goldfarb experienced anti-Semitic taunts from another soldier and ended up in his one and only fist fight with the bigot. He ended his time in the service in France and in Germany, where, as an infantry corporal, he was in battles at the end of the war and was later assigned to the Counterintelligence Corps to find German war criminals. Goldfarb reminisced about attending a moving and dramatic seder in Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany, where he was stationed during his service in that country. He was honorably discharged in 1946 and, due to college credits earned in the military, he graduated from UCLA at that time.
After graduation, Goldfarb became a CPA and joined a good friend from UCLA, Sanford Garfield, in an accounting partnership. Goldfarb enrolled in the Loyola Law School night program and became an attorney in 1956. In 1965, he founded the law firm of Goldfarb, Sturman & Averbach, practicing in the field of business and tax. He retired from the partnership in December of 1999.
In the summer of 1952, Goldfarb met Miriam Justman on a blind date, fixed up by Miriam’s principal who was Goldfarb’s cousin. Sam was taken with Miriam; she was intelligent, witty, a schoolteacher, and was also a WW II veteran, having served in the Women’s Army Corps in France. They were married June 21, 1953. Their happy marriage produced daughters Deborah and Nancy and son Benjamin. The family loved vacationing in the national and state parks of California and at Ludlow’s Lodge in Lake Tahoe during summers, and in the desert in winter. The Goldfarbs were close to their extended families and always hosted the Cousins Club Hanukkah Party at their Sherman Oaks home. Much later, they built a beach house in Oxnard Shores, which became a relaxing hub for the family and friends. The couple loved hosting large barbeques for family and friends at the beach.
Goldfarb was a lifelong student of history and politics. He loved reading biographies of great leaders and studying the modern era. He was a liberal Democrat and very accepting of other people regardless of their background, past mistakes or foibles. He was kind and generous to his employees and had the same secretary from 1962 until his retirement.
Goldfarb proudly served as the chairman of the United Jewish Federation fund campaign for the San Fernando Valley and as a board member and the financial secretary of Adat Ari El, where he was a member from 1966. He and Miriam were supporters of Camp Ramah in Ojai and endowed the Justman-Goldfarb scholarship fund.
In his professional life, Goldfarb served as president of the California Association of Attorney-CPAs, and as board member of the American Association of Attorney CPAs. He was also elected president of the San Fernando Valley Estate Planning Council and served as the tax editor for the L.A. County Bar Journal. He served as a judge pro tem in the superior courts and also served as a court-appointed family law mediator.
Goldfarb was politically active. He was a delegate to the California State Democratic Conventions and to the Democratic National Convention in 2000 and 2008. He was also an elected member of the L.A. County Democratic Central Committee. During the Vietnam War, he was appointed by President Nixon to be a member of the Selective Service Board for the San Fernando Valley.
In retirement, Goldfarb became a passionate bridge player and traveled extensively. He and Miriam went on multiple cruises and Sam went on many more after her death in 2001. He saw nearly every country in Europe and many others in the Middle East, Africa, East Asia and South America. He went to nearly every one of the states in the union and parts of Canada. He especially loved visiting presidential libraries.
A voracious reader until he became nearly completely blind in 2011, Goldfarb devoured the New Yorker every week, read history and biography, and loved spy novels. Even in blindness, however, he stayed active and alert, attending music and current event classes at the Braille Institute, listening to books and staying involved with his beloved family.
Goldfarb is survived by his daughters, Deborah Golden (James) and Nancy Goldfarb Pope, his son Benjamin Goldfarb (Melissa Zukerman), and his grandchildren, Alex, Harry (Jennifer Grabler) and Caroline, and his great-granddaughter, Zoe Gray Golden.
His forever youthful presence will be sadly missed and mourned by all who knew and loved him.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Goldfarb/Justman Camp Ramah Scholarship Fund c/o Adat Ari El, Valley Village, Calif. 91607.
View Samuel Goldfarb's "Celebrating Centenarians" feature here.
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