Alfred G. Goldberg

Milwaukee native Alfred Gerald Goldberg died Nov. 25 of natural causes at the age of 94. A longtime Fox Point resident, he moved to Glendale last year.

He was the first child of Louis and Dora (nee Padway) Goldberg to be born in America. He was always called “Fred,” so not to be confused with his brother, Albert J. Goldberg, also an attorney.

After graduating from North Division High School and Marquette University, he began the study of law at Marquette’s law school and graduated in 1930 from the University of Wisconsin Law School.

Early in his career, he developed a passion for the causes of labor unions. He followed his brother, I. E. Goldberg, in joining the law firm of their uncle, Joseph A. Padway, a nationally recognized labor attorney and former judge. He became a partner in the firm in 1937.

His career in labor law representation spanned more than 50 years until his retirement in 1983. He continued as emeritus advisor to the firm of Goldberg, Previant, Uelman, Gratz, Miller & Brueggeman, S.C.

Throughout his career, he represented unions, including the Wisconsin Federation of Labor, and later the merged AFL-CIO, the Wisconsin International Brotherhood of Teamsters, various building trades unions and their council, and the Milwaukee Area Labor Council.

In 1947, he became the principal in the firm after his brother was killed in a plane crash and his uncle died of a stroke. He became the national counsel for the American Federation of Labor, the I.B.T. and the musicians union. He soon gave up the national clients, which required spending a lot of time in Washington, D.C., and focused on state and regional labor issues.

He was broadly involved in Jewish and non-sectarian communal affairs as donor and volunteer. He served as a vice president and executive board member of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation, vice president and board member of Mt. Sinai Medical Center, and president of the Milwaukee Jewish Council for Community Relations, Gilead Lodge of B’nai B’rith and Brynwood Country Club.

Melvin S. Zaret, executive vice president emeritus of the federation, called Goldberg “a great force for good,” and a person with a “capacity to get people to submerge their differences. I knew that whenever you had a situation with a lot of tensions, it was a good idea to put Fred Goldberg into that group because he could help them to make peace.”

Goldberg also “gave of himself quietly, never demanding reward or recognition,” Zaret said. “He was helpful and constructive in every way.”

Goldberg also was a board member of Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun, the American Jewish Committee, Jewish Vocational Services and the Planned Parenthood Association of Wisconsin. Professionally, he belonged to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin and American bar associations and the American Trial Lawyers Association.

In 1985, while a vice president of the American Technion Society, he received its Albert Einstein Award. Winston S. Churchill was the guest speaker at the award luncheon.

His other interests were playing golf, attending the symphony and reading.

He is survived by daughter Arlene (Hy) Brodsky of Montauk, N.Y; son Gerald (Lois) Goldberg of Fox Point; sister Beatrice Chudnow of Mequon; brothers Max Goldberg of Glendale and Albert (Naomi) Goldberg of Mequon; five grandchildren; and 14 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by wives Lillian Goldberg (nee Cooper) and Esther Goldberg (nee Tonkanogy).

Rabbi Ronald Shapiro officiated at the funeral on Nov. 27. Burial was in Second Home Cemetery.

The family would appreciate memorials to the Alfred G. Goldberg Scholarship Fund of the American Technion Society, 111 W. Washington, Chicago, IL 60602.