David I. Goldblatt ’58

David I. Goldblatt, died of lung cancer on August 5th at his home on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. He was 85. A kind, decent person with a deft wit and extraordinary skill at resolving disputes, he lived a full and good life. He loved his wife, Minna Schrag; his children, Amy Holtzer, Julie Kern and Andrew Goldblatt (who predeceased him) and their husbands Mark Holtzer and Frank Kern; his stepchildren Deborah Schrag, Daniel Schrag and Jonathan Schrag and their spouses Yochai Benkler, Diane Brockmeyer and Kirstin Hill; his six grandchildren, Sarah, Talya (Alex Liakos), Jake (Lauren Dwyer) and Noah Holtzer and Melanie and Adam Kern; his six stepgrandchildren Noam and Ari Benkler, Orion, Rosie, Ingrid and Ilsa Schrag; and his sister Florence Mintzer and her daughter Cindy Simon. Son of Joseph and Miriam Krohn Goldblatt, former husband of Mary Saypol Goldblatt, a graduate of Antioch College and Yale Law School, David was a partner in the Litigation Department of Proskauer Rose. For more than six decades, David crafted solutions to complex problems as an attorney, as a FINRA arbitrator and as Board President of the Normandy. David was a master craftsman in an age of mass production, a man of deep ethical conviction who wielded an exquisite pen. He brought the same wisdom and decency to all his relationships, as serious at play as at work. When he played hearts with family, he never missed an opportunity to shoot the moon; and he was masterful at bridge. David was an avid gardener in Pawling, NY, where he and Minna made a welcoming weekend home for family and friends. He loved music, especially choral singing, and reveled in his performances with the Oratorio Society, New York Choral Society and Berkshire Choral Festival. He sang Broadway show tunes with friends, performed in amateur musical productions, and worked tirelessly at his piano lessons. From Broadway to the ballet, from theatre to his book club, while roaming in Riverside Park with his dogs, David embraced the city in all its variety. He loved life, and his friends and family loved him for the playful, serious, wise man that he was. Donations in his memory may be made to Markers for Democracy.