Community leader, philanthropist and real estate developer Sheldon Goldseker passed away on Friday, Oct. 20. The Owings Mills resident was 82.
The son of a grocer, Goldseker was a Baltimore City College graduate who grew up in the Forest Park neighborhood and attended Beth Tfiloh Synagogue on Garrison Boulevard.
In 1975, he became the chairman of the Goldseker Foundation, one of Baltimore’s largest charitable foundations.
“I was left with the responsibility of starting the foundation as the direct result of being named in Morris Goldseker’s will,” Goldseker said of his late uncle in a 2010 Maryland Daily Record profile of the state’s most influential figures. “This is an opportunity not everyone gets. It has proven to be one of the most meaningful endeavors of my life.”
In a post on the website of Sol Levinson & Bros., Sheldon Goldseker’s family wrote, “Sheldon will … be remembered by scores of cousins who he kept in constant touch with, as well as friends and former employees of Multi Properties Inc, which he ran with his late cousin Simon for fifty years. In addition to his professional career in real estate, Sheldon was the founding chairman of the Morris Goldseker Foundation and led its Board of Directors and Investment Committee for the entirety of the foundation’s nearly 50-year history, awarding grants to 600 local organizations and civic initiatives supporting the people and institutions of Baltimore.”
In addition, the post stated that “Sheldon was a trustee of the Baltimore Community Foundation and played a pivotal role in its growth over a record setting 38-year tenure and was also the founding chairman of the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers.”
Goldseker was also a past board member of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore.
A Chizuk Amuno congregant, Goldseker was eulogized by Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin as a caring person who, despite his public profile, often worked quietly behind the scenes to help others. She said words such as elegance, grace, generosity and integrity were apropos when describing his character.
“You needn’t have been in Sheldon’s presence for too long to know and feel his warmth, his caring, his modest greatness,” she said. “Sheldon was motivated by one powerful quest — ‘What more can I do to make a difference?'”
Sheldon Goldseker is survived by his wife of 52 years, Shelley (nee Abrams) Goldseker; his daughter and son-in-law, Sharna Goldseker and Simon Greer; his grandchildren, Owen and Sasha; his sister and brother-in-law, Audrey and Leslie Polt; and many nieces and nephews.
Goldseker was predeceased by his parents, Samuel Goldseker and Sadye (nee Abramowitz) Goldseker, and his cousin, “brother” and partner Simon Goldseker.
“His family filled his life with joy and meaning as he was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin and friend to so many,” wrote his family.
Services were held on Sunday, Oct. 22, at Sol Levinson’s Chapel in Pikesville. Interment was at Arlington Chizuk Amuno Cemetery.
Shiva will be observed at 210 Club Road in Baltimore on Monday, and Tuesday, Oct. 23 and 24, from 1–4 p.m. and 6–8 p.m., with services each evening at 7 p.m.
Contributions in his memory may be sent to the Baltimore Community Foundation, P.O. Box 37422, Baltimore, Maryland 21297-3422; or The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore’s Israel Emergency Fund, Attention Donor Center, 101 W. Mount Royal Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland 21201.
“I thought my father was larger than life,” eulogized Sharna Goldseker. “He was the most loyal, authentic and fair person. His greatest joy was taking care of the people he loved.”
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