Beatrice Goldstein

From the time Bea was a little girl, she loved to read! Bea grew up the second oldest of four girls, during the difficult days of the depression. Although there wasn’t a lot of material things, living in a large apartment building meant there were always plenty of neighbor kids to play street ball with or a great book to read. Bea’s teachers suggested she skip second grade, because she needed more of a challenge.

What Bea added to our lives will be a source of inspiration forever.

At 25, on a blind date, she met the love of her life, Stan Goldstein. Stan, an advertising writer, and Bea shared a love of literature, theater and music. They married in November of 1952. After having three kids, Eric, Leslie and Julia, Stan and Bea left their native East Coast and came to snowy Minnesota in January, 1968.

After happily raising their kids, Bea and Stanley were thrilled to welcome five grandchildren into their lives. One of Bea’s favorite things was reading to her grandchildren and playing with them. When her oldest grandson was just over five, Bea began noticing difficulties with her vision. She had to stop driving and soon, even reading became a hardship. Bea was diagnosed with macular degeneration.

Bea suffered with her vision decreasing each year. She missed reading, feeling able to take care of most jobs by herself, but mostly she missed being able to see the faces of her beloved family.

In 2017, at the age of 89, Bea passed away. Her husband Stan, children – Eric, Leslie and Julia, daughter and sons in-law – Tom, Christian and Hava, and grandchildren – Jeremiah, Ethan, Noah, Ian and Sofia, all want to help eradicate Macular Degeneration and made the choice to donate Bea’s eyes for study. Bea did not want anyone else to suffer with this disease.