[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 120 (Monday, July 25, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1165]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





                   HONORING THE LIFE OF JONA GOLDRICH

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. TED LIEU

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 25, 2016

  Mr. TED LIEU of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise to celebrate the life 
of Jona Goldrich--father, husband, grandfather, Holocaust survivor, 
real estate developer, and philanthropist--who passed away on June 26, 
2016, at the age of 88.
  Born September 11, 1927 in Lviv, Poland, Jona escaped the Nazi 
occupation by fleeing with his brother Avraham to Hungary in 1942, 
eventually reaching Israel. The rest of their family died in 
concentration camps.
  Jona left Israel after 11 years for the United States where he hoped 
to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But after being denied 
admission because of his limited English skills, Jona decided to go 
across the country to southern California, where he arrived on a bus 
with only $50 in his pocket.
  Jona began working as a window and screen installer and a year later, 
he started a subcontracting cleaning business, setting his foot into 
the world of real estate. In 1956, at the age of 29, he built his first 
apartment building, and in 1959 he met a construction laborer and a 
fellow Holocaust survivor named Sol Kest with whom he founded the 
Goldrich & Kest Industries.
  Jona was a visionary. In the 1960s when there were only offices and 
governmental buildings in downtown Los Angeles, he decided to construct 
residential buildings in downtown LA despite skepticism about whether 
the area could attract residents. Jona also built one of Marina del 
Rey's first apartment complexes in 1968 seeing an opportunity to 
transform it into an attractive beach city.
  Jona was also a philanthropist who contributed to the American 
society in many ways. His firm constructed 72 apartment buildings that 
accommodate low-income families. He founded the Goldrich Family 
Foundation which supports Jewish and Israeli charities as well as 
educational causes. Jona is also remembered for his lifelong work on 
raising public awareness of the Holocaust, and he played an important 
role in the founding of the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, 
located in my district.
  He is survived by his wife of 56 years, Doretta; brother Avraham; 
daughters Melinda and Andrea Goldrich Cayton; and grandchildren 
Garrett, Lindsay and Derek.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the life of Jona Goldrich.

                          ____________________