Joel Goldberg mastered the art of merchandising from the ground up.
Beginning his career with Rich's Department Store in 1954 in its basement budget section as a buyer of women's apparel, he worked his way upward, gaining leadership savvy along the way. Seventeen years later, he was president of Rich's -- and a few years after that, its chairman and CEO.
"Joel was an outstanding retailer," said a colleague, John Weitnauer of Atlanta, former chairman of Richway stores, a Rich's subsidiary. "From the time we started together at Rich's, I could tell he had a keen eye for trends in styles and an innate sense of what customers wanted. Stores that guess wrong don't turn a profit. Joel didn't make mistakes like that."
His rise to the top never went to his head. "I remember Dad always treated his employees with dignity," said his daughter, Debra Patterson of Atlanta. "No matter their position with Rich's, high or low, he would make a point to engage them in conversation and listen to them with real concern."
Joel Goldberg, 85, died Thursday at Grady Memorial Hospital's Marcus Stroke and Neuroscience Center of complications following a stroke. His funeral will be at 2 p.m. Sunday at The Temple, with burial later at Arlington Memorial Park. Dressler's Jewish Funeral Care is in charge of arrangements.
Mr. Goldberg was never so busy at his office that he ducked doing his part to make Atlanta better. "Dad always thought it was important to pay back the community that made his business success possible," his daughter said. Over his lifetime, he became president or chairman of 10 of Atlanta's civic, educational or health-related organizations and was a trustee or director for a dozen more.
"Joel believed strongly in doing his part in every aspect of life," said former Atlanta Mayor Sam Massell, president of the Buckhead Coalition. "He was proud of his city, proud of his religion, proud of his business, proud of his family, and he could always be counted on for dedicated participation in a wide range of community endeavors. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy and will be missed in more than several boardrooms."
For 23 years, Mr. Goldberg was president of the Rich Foundation, which makes about 100 grants a year to Atlanta organizations that deal with the arts, education, environment, health and social services.
"Joel loved Atlanta," said Tom Asher of Atlanta, the foundation's current president. "He was a forceful advocate for dozens of organizations that affect people in all walks of life. A lot of people here don't know it, but they benefited greatly from his good works. We're very fortunate Joel came our way."
Oglethorpe University was as dear to Mr. Goldberg as his own alma mater, Dartmouth College. He served on Oglethorpe's board of trustees for more than 25 years and was founder of one of the school's signature institutions, the Rich Urban Leadership Program, funded by the Rich Foundation.
"What we will most remember, however, is Joel's love for people and especially our students," said Lawrence Schall, Oglethorpe's president. "Before every trustee meeting, he would make the time to have lunch in our dining hall with one or two students just to learn about their lives and to see if there was any way he might be of service to them."
St. Joseph's Hospital was another favorite cause. He served 31 years on its board of trustees, six years as chairman.
"Joel gave special attention to the hospital's Translational Research Institute," said Bill Garrett, president of the hospital's fund-raising arm, the St. Joseph's Foundation. The institute's mission, he said, has been to take medical concepts, test them in animals and apply the findings to humans.
"For example," he said, "stents placed in arteries were having problems with clogging until we determined that drug-eluting stents performed better in pigs than plain stents. Nowadays, thanks to our findings, most stents used in humans are the drug-eluting variety. This kind of research is not usual for a community-based hospital like St. Joseph's, but we were able to do it here in great part because of the support of Joel Goldberg and the Rich Foundation, which he headed."
Survivors also include his wife, Carole Goldberg; sons, James Goldberg of Sandy Springs and Jeffrey Goldberg of Evanston, Ill.; a sister, Eleanor Needleman of McDonough, and two grandchildren.
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