Barbara Jean Goldberg

Born on a late autumn November day in 1941 in Chicago, Illinois to parents Maxwell and Elaine Goldstein, Barbara Jean Goldberg lived a true Chicagoan life. Her parents were from a working class background, her father an early Pepsi Cola route driver and later owning a meat distribution route and her mother was in ladies fashion retail. Their life on Chicago’s south side had them in various apartments until they settled in a bungalow on Luella St. in the South Shore neighborhood big enough for her and her younger brother Gerry and the parents. Barbara Goldberg attended and graduated from South Shore High School and the Art Institute of Chicago. Art, and her paintings and drawings, have always been part of her adult life and has completed dozens of works. During her time at the Art Institute in 1959-60, she met Larry Goldberg on the South Shore train from downtown Chicago. They fell in love and married on November 12, 1961. They were together for nearly 61 years and were truly the love of each other’s lives. They lived in the Jeffery Manor neighborhood and had two children, Kenny (1964), and Amy (1968). Then in 1968 moved out northwest of Chicago to the village of Buffalo Grove, Illinois. It was there that they all “grew up together”. They, along with several other friends founded the Jewish synagogue, Temple Chai, in Long Grove, IL and supported the Jewish community for the rest of their lives. Barbara Goldberg was a devoted homemaker when her children were younger. As her children became young adults she decided to open a business in which she had a special understanding and expertise. When Barbara was younger, she had Alopecia and lost most of her hair by the time she was 15, a very difficult thing for a girl, especially growing up in the 1950s. She wore wigs and became very good with styling them. Yet it wasn’t alway about the fashion since her plight was from a disease and she knew that people who had alopecia, or going through cancer treatments, or accident or burn victims needed someone who cared and understood their particular needs to feel complete and have hair on their head, even if it was a prosthetic piece. She opened HairResponse, Inc. in 1985. The business has continued to operate under the ownership of her daughter Amy since her retirement.

Barbara had faced many health challenges in her life with breast cancer having been the greatest. With aggressive treatment she beat it and remained cancer free for over 30 years. Yet the chemo affected her optic nerve blood vessels and she became legally blind in 1995. Soon after she trained in San Rafael, CA at the guide dog school and was given Hallie, a wonderful yellow labrador guide dog who was my mom’s faithful companion for many years until Hallie’s death.

Barbara was a devoted mother and spouse. She reared her son and daughter and watched both go on to marry and have children of their own, her beloved grandchildren, Kelly, (Ken Goldberg) and twins, Abbie and Rachel, (Amy and Scott Salzstein) She has several nephews and nieces, Doug Wolens and Jodi Kimmelman, Matt, Eric, and Josh Goldstein, and their spouses and children. She enjoyed each moment with all of her family and each one of us individually.

Her last five years was mostly spent giving her last measures of devotion to her love, her husband Larry Goldberg who was declining of Alzheimers and passed away on August 14th, 2022. She gave all her heart to him and his care and was completely broken hearted at his death. While looking forward to some years of life ahead she underwent back surgery to relieve terrible pain and become more mobile. In recovery she became badly ill with pneumonia and unexpected complications. With her children by her side, Barbara Jean Goldberg passed on her birthday, November 14, 2022

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Service Information

Service : Monday, December 19th at 4:00 pm
Service Location: Memorial Service -Temple Chai

Interment: