Jeweler, WWII vet a standout in athletics
3/26/2010Norton "Nortie" Goldstein, a retired Toledo jeweler who was a standout athlete at Scott High School in the 1930s, died of complications of pneumonia Wednesday in Montefiore Home, Beachwood, Ohio.
He was 91.
Mr. Goldstein had a 25-year career with Osterman Jewelers, advancing to manage the store the company used to have at Summit and Adams streets downtown and then its outlet at Westfield Franklin Park.
He also was a diamond salesman at Osterman, manager of sales training, and floor manager before becoming a store manager.
After leaving Osterman, he worked at Harold Jaffe Jewelers. He went to work at Jaffe on his doctor's advice, after suffering a bout of depression when he retired from Osterman.
He found working in the mall to be a calmer experience than at the downtown store, he told The Blade in 1986.
"Downtown was more challenging. We always had to stay on the alert for sharpies, and I got pretty good at that. It came with experience," he said.
When he retired for good in 1997, he and his wife Sylvia moved to the Cleveland area to be near their son and daughter.
Mr. Goldstein made a name for himself as an athlete at Scott, from which he graduated in 1937.
He was a star quarterback and halfback on the Scott Bulldogs football team and also played varsity baseball, basketball, and track, his son Bruce Goldstein said.
The Toledo News Bee wrote on Nov. 26, 1936, that "Scott's chances of victory lie in the ability of Norton Goldstein and Idus Brown, diminutive touchdown twins, to elude the slightly heavier and slower East Siders [Waite High School]."
Bruce Goldstein described his father as a natural athlete.
"He was only 5 feet, 7 inches, but he had legs like tree trunks. He was very fast and very strong," he said.
Indeed, at the downtown Osterman store, he was able to move the company safe into a back room by himself at the close of the business day. On days he didn't work, two men were needed to complete the chore, Bruce Goldstein said.
Mr. Goldstein enlisted in the Army in 1940. He served in North Africa during World War II and was honorably discharged in November, 1945.
Mr. Goldstein was president of the local B'nai Brith softball league for many years.
He also was a dedicated bowler at Imperial Lanes and the former Ottawa Lanes who once rolled a 290 game, missing only a 10 pin. In 1958, the B'nai Brith bowling league awarded him the Sheriff Bill Hirsch trophy as the league's outstanding bowler.
He and Sylvia were married for 56 years.
Mr. Goldstein was born in Toledo, the third child of Minnie and Benjamin Goldstein.
Surviving are his wife, Sylvia; daughter, Myrna Diamond; son, Bruce, and five grandchildren.
Graveside services will be at 11 a.m. today at Eagle Point Cemetery, Rossford.
The family requests memorial tributes to Montefiore Home, 1 David Meyers Pkwy., Beachwood, Ohio 44122.
Contact Carl Ryan at:
carlryan@theblade.com
or 419-724-6050.