Philanthropist Herb Gold of Hewlett Harbor dies

Described as an adoring husband and father, a wonderful man and mensch to all who knew him, Hewlett Harbor’s Herbert V. Gold died in his Longboat Key, Fla. home on Nov. 25. He was 96.

A 62-year member of the East Rockaway-based Woodmere Bay Yacht Club, Gold served as the club’s commodore in 1961 and remained a fleet captain for more than half a century.

Gold gained a reputation as a patron of several organizations. He donated the auditorium at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library, established the Rita Gold Early Childhood centers at Columbia University’s Teachers College and Tel Aviv.

The former Rita Weinstein and Gold met in 1941, and after Gold asked her which street he should take to drive her home, she said the long way and their road together continued as they were married for 67 years. Rita died in 2008.

He also donated generously to The New York City Opera, The Juilliard School and the Sarasota Opera, along with funding scholarships for young opera singers and underprivileged students, who then went on to higher education.

Born in Brooklyn, Gold, graduated from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where he played piccolo in the marching band, and then New York University Law School.

As part of his father’s business —Stackler, Frank and Gold — he built homes and apartment buildings in Rockville Centre and Hewlett Harbor. Appointed redeveloper as a partner in the Rockville Centre-based firm, Gold oversaw the Urban Renewal Program for the Village of Rockville Centre and other Long Island projects.

The Golds raised a son, Richard, who died at 35. Gold is survived by his brother Ronny and loving cousins in the United States and Israel.

He will be remembered by family and friends as a kind, soft-spoken person with a sharp intellect and lively wit, who lived life to the fullest, inspired those he knew to fulfill their highest goals and was a compassionate and philanthropic man. Gold also left behind what some who knew him called “an extraordinary legacy of learning and commitment to service,” and they said, “he will always be in our hearts.”

Services were held graveside on Monday, at Old Montefiore Cemetery, in Springfield Gardens, Queens. In lieu of flowers; contributions may be made to the charity of your choice.