[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 172 (Tuesday, December 21, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2235]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          A TRIBUTE IN HONOR OF THE LIFE OF GOODWIN STEINBERG

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                           HON. ANNA G. ESHOO

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 21, 2010

  Ms. ESHOO. Madam Speaker, I rise to honor the life of Goodwin 
Steinberg, a renowned architect and an active and affectionate 
community builder, who died on December 14, 2010. For half a century, 
Goody Steinberg designed and developed spaces for professional, civic 
and sacred uses. He was a giant who will be missed by his family, his 
friends, and everyone who was touched by his wise, wonderful and gentle 
ways.
   As his grandchildren remembered their grandfather at his memorial 
service at Temple Beth Am--the magnificent structure he designed which 
is now home to some 1,600 families--their heartfelt words, and the very 
woodwork, paid eloquent tribute to this extraordinarily talented, 
creative, and caring community member. One after another, they spoke of 
how valued he made them feel, and how they knew that they were 
cherished. This love for family was the essence of Goody Steinberg, and 
we all benefited from it.
   The projects that Goody designed are now iconic symbols of Silicon 
Valley and its development from the fruit-growing Valley of the Hearts 
Delight into the equally fruitful birthplace of ideas and innovation 
that it is today. Beth Am, designed so that his daughter could attend a 
religious school to learn Jewish traditions, is a much loved ``house of 
the people,'' the Hebrew translation of its name. Indeed, everywhere 
people gathered, Goody transformed into a house of the people. In his 
nearly half-century career as an architect, he designed the restoration 
of the Santa Clara County Courthouse, the Tech Museum of Innovation and 
the Del Monte Hotel in Monterey. The campus of Stanford University and 
the entire San Francisco Peninsula bear the indelible mark of his warm 
and welcoming designs, infused with light, love and laughter.
   Goody served his community well, and glowed with justifiable pride 
in the community involvement and contributions of his family, proud of 
their generosity and accomplishments. His wife Geraldine served with 
distinction on the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in the 
1970s, and nothing made Goody happier than the day his son Robert 
joined the family business, Steinberg Architects, now an international 
architectural firm with offices as far afield as Shanghai.
   Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring Goodwin 
Steinberg's exemplary life and his multitude of accomplishments. I ask 
also that the entire House of Representatives extend its most sincere 
condolences to his wife of 66 years, Geraldine; his children Robert 
(and Alice Erber) of Palo Alto, Thomas (and Shaindel) of New York and 
Jerusalem, and Joan Laurence of Tsfat, Israel; his 11 grandchildren, 
and his late grandson Jacob Erber Steinberg; three great grandchildren; 
and sisters, Sylvia and Darlene.
   On entering a synagogue, Jews begin the Ma Tovu, a prayer of awe and 
reverence for their sacred spaces, with the words, ``How goodly are 
your tents, O Jacob, your dwelling places, O Israel!'' As Beth Am 
congregants enter the sanctuary he designed, they will forever be 
reminded of Goody Steinberg and the goodly tents he established 
everywhere he went. He built this city on rock and soul, from the 
ground up, and his family and his designs stand as magnificent 
memorials to Goody Steinberg's extraordinary creativity and humanity. 
America has been bettered in so many ways because of him.

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