Stanley Goldstein

On Sunday, the 18th of December, Stanley Goldstein passed away. He was 99.

He was born in Brooklyn to Max and Rose Goldstein. Soon after starting college the US entered WWII, and he joined the US Army Air Force. He became a lead navigator flying B17s, B24s and de Havilland Mosquitoes over Germany, earning a Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with Four Oak Leaf Clusters, and in 2015 was inducted in the French Légion d’honneur.

He took advantage of the GI Bill to attend the University of Oklahoma, where he graduated in 1949 with a B.S. in Physics. During his time in Oklahoma, the segregation of the schools and universities was starting to be challenged and Stan became involved in the civil rights movement. His political activities brought him in contact with another student who shared his commitment to political and social change as well as singing beautifully, Wanda Goldstein née Rouse; they married in 1949 and spent the next 67 years together. Stan received his M.S. in Physics from New York University in 1954, and became a professor at Hofstra University, receiving his PhD in Astronautics in 1969; he explained that he shifted fields because he couldn’t accept quantum mechanics.

In addition to starting the Engineering Science program at what was, at the time, a small liberal-arts college, he held numerous different positions at Hofstra including Chair of the Department of Engineering and Computer Science, Associate Dean, Associate Provost, and Director of the Collegiate Science & Technology Entry Program (CSTEP). During his life he maintained a strong commitment to social justice, including through his involvement with the Unitarian Universalist Church.

He remained engaged in politics, organizing discussions of important social issues and assisting Wanda on “Coming Back to Ulster County”, a guide and resource for ex-prisoners returning from prison or jail. He will be remembered for his cheerfulness, his humor, his love of nature, his energy, his enthusiasm, his generosity and his continual sense of wonder.

He is survived by his two sons, Bruce and Richard Goldstein.

There will be a memorial service at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills on February 4th, 2023, at 11:00 AM.

Arrangements under the direction of the Dapson-Chestney Funeral Home, Rhinebeck.