Joseph Arthur Goldstein

Joseph Arthur Goldstein lived a life built on three unshakable foundations: a deep and active faith, a family that never stopped growing, and a genuine love for the wider world and everyone in it.

He passed away peacefully in Portland, Oregon, on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, surrounded by the family who loved him fiercely and cared for him faithfully through his long battle with Alzheimer's disease. He was 85 years old.

Joe was born on December 18, 1940, in New York City, the second of ten children born to Irving and Mary Goldstein and grew up Winfield Park, New Jersey, with his siblings Grace, Bob, Jim, Ken, Greg, Richard, Gerry, Matt, and Jeannie, in a tiny row house with noise, mischief, and chaos enough to fuel a lifetime of family stories. He is survived by Ken,Greg, Gerry, Matt and Jeannie.

A brilliant mind from the start, Joe graduated with honors from Rutgers University before earning a graduate degree at the University of Illinois in electrical engineering. He served in the United States Navy, where he crossed the equator and earned the good natured honor, and no small amount of ribbing from his shipmates, of being named "Miss Pollywog" during the ceremony.

He met Jane Ranzenberger at a party at the University of Illinois, a meeting Jane has always said felt exactly like the song "Some Enchanted Evening," a story she carried with her for the rest of their life together. They married on June 17, 1972 in Champaign, immediately afterward moving to Virginia amid a wild East Coast hurricane, and where they raised a family together.

Joe began his career at the Naval Research Laboratory, where he worked until he retired from government work in 2000. Then, he and Jane moved to The Netherlands where Joe worked for the member nations of NATO, an experience that continued to feed a lifelong love of travel and of the people he met along the way. They returned to the U.S. in 2002, built a home in Waitsfield, Vermont in 2007, and then later moved to York, Maine in 2017. Their final move together was to Portland, Oregon in May 2026 to live near their daughter, Claire and her family.

In Waitsfield, Joe became deeply involved with Rotary International, whose mission of building relationships and service across borders deepened the commitment to the global community he had carried since his NATO days. He helped lead the Rotary Youth Exchange at Harwood Union High School in Waitsfield. He also went to Honduras with Vermont Rotarians to build a hospital.

Together Joe and Jane built a marriage grounded in faith and devotion that carried them through more than fifty years, including the long and difficult years of his illness, through which Jane cared for him with unwavering love. They were completely devoted to each other until his very last breath.

Throughout his life, Joe was active in his church. He loved to sing loudly from the pews or, when allowed, with the choir - his one steady note. He particularly enjoyed singing along to the Hallelujah chorus at Christmas time. Joe served his church in every capacity asked of him, from deacon to altar server.

Joe was, by every account, brilliant and witty, and one of the kindest people to ever walk into a room, largely because he made sure to talk to everyone in it. He never met a stranger, much to the good humored embarrassment of his children, who could not take him anywhere without him striking up a conversation with whoever happened to be standing nearby. Despite struggling with a devastating disease, Joe shared his kindness and humor with everyone he met until his very last days.

Joe is survived by his wife of over fifty years, Jane Ranzenberger Goldstein of Portland, Oregon; his children and their spouses Maren & Brian Hoover, Claire & Brian Hart, and Nicolaus & Jana Goldstein and his grandchildren, Jackson, Patrick, Rowan, Liam, Renn, Nola, and Will.

A celebration of Joe's life will be held on Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. at The James F. Buckle Center in Winfield Park, New Jersey. Brunch will be served, and all are welcome. Joe never shied away from a silly costume or a unique hat, and he loved nothing more than making people smile, so guests are invited to wear something fun in his honor.

Though he was a city boy at heart, some of his happiest hours were spent at Jane's family's dairy farm in her hometown of Caledonia, Minnesota, waking before the sun to help with morning chores. He will be laid to rest in Caledonia, the place that gave him some of his happiest days.

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations in Joe’s honor to a scholarship fund that Joe and Jane themselves support and whose mission is to support students studying interfaith global studies at the Lutheran Center for Faith, Values, and Community at St. Olaf College.