Home is where the heart is, and for Jessie Klee Goldberg, home was Squirrel Hill and Israel.
Before retiring to Boca Raton, Fla., Mrs. Goldberg resided, raised her family, sold real estate and was active in a neighborhood that was, according to her daughter, Renee Goldman, "Mom's life."
Mrs. Goldberg, formerly of Squirrel Hill, died Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2003. She was 86.
Rabbi Stephen Steindel, of Congregation Beth Shalom in Squirrel Hill, recalled Mrs. Goldberg's love of the land and the people of Israel.
"I knew her in the years following the death of (husband) Oscar Goldberg. She was a lady who was sweet, sensitive, caring and a real human being who had a love for people," Steindel said.
"Mrs. Goldberg was also a philanthropist who traveled on numerous occasions to Israel to assess what she could do to aid those who needed help, especially for victims of terrorists who were in hospitals or those who were destitute and needed a helping hand."
Shortly after her marriage to Emanuel Klee in 1937, the Klees moved to Squirrel Hill, where she sold real estate for the Cooper Agency and was active with Hadassah, B'Nai Brith and Congregation Beth Shalom.
Mr. Klee died in 1968, and she married Mr. Goldberg in the early 1980s. She and her husband were active with the Zionist organization. Mr. Goldberg, who owned a drug store in the South Hills, died in 1997.
Renee Goldman said her mother was well-liked. "When we walked up Murray Avenue, my mother must have talked to dozens of people by the time we reached Forbes Avenue. It happened all the time."
Mrs. Goldberg's daughter, Barbara Klee, who died in 1995, was the pianist for the Taylor Allderdice High School Orchestra and, in later years, was a professional musician who produced radio commercials in New York City, where she made her home.
Born and raised on the North Side, where her father, Oscar Fink, had a tailor shop, Jessie Fink attended Oliver High School and participated in several of the school's sports programs.
In 1934, following graduation from high school, Miss Fink was employed as an executive secretary for Rosenbaum's Department Store, Downtown.
Once the Klees settled in Squirrel Hill, she raised her two daughters and began her real estate career with the Cooper Agency, which, at the time, was located in Point Breeze.
"The Cooper Agency was a high-end real estate agency that catered to people in the higher-income brackets," real estate executive Jerry Speer said.
"Mrs. Goldberg was a nice lady who was always pleasant and knew everyone in Squirrel Hill. She knew the business and was highly respected in real estate circles."
Mrs. Goldberg is survived by her daughter, Renee Goldman, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; three grandchildren, Brent and Evan Goldman and Erin Fruitman; and four great-grandchildren, Jacob Goldman, Benjamin, Gabriel and Maya Fruitman.
Friends will be received from 1 to 2 p.m. today at the Burton L. Hirsch Funeral Home Inc., 2704 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill, followed by a funeral service in the chapel. Interment will be in Beth Shalom Cemetery, Millvale.
