Harvey Goldberg

Harvey Goldberg
10/19/56-10/3/99

In Loving Memory of Harvey Goldberg

Harvey was 34 when, at the beach, his friend pointed out a suspicious looking mole on his back. A visit to the dermatologist confirmed melanoma, and surgery followed. Although given a scare, Harvey thought he had escaped the cancer. He continued enjoying life, his kids, and his work as a partner in a Manhattan CPA firm. He and his wife, Lisa, even went on to have a third child.

In early 1997, a couple of months past his 40th birthday, he felt a lump under his arm. The melanoma had traveled to his lymph nodes. Surgery followed, as did a full year of interferon injections. Unfortunately, although his body seemed clear, the melanoma had traveled to his brain. Doctors treated Harvey aggressively. He wanted to live more than anything, and seemed very strong. He endured gamma-knife radiation, brain surgeries, and whole brain radiation. At the end, chemotherapy was tried, with no success.

Harvey died at home on October 3, 1999. He left a wife, and 3 children aged 6, 9, and 12. His children were his pride and joy. As his sister, I miss him terribly. When we were kids we often thought about how old we would be in the millennium year. Harvey never made it. He did spend a lot of time in the sun as a child and teen, and he paid for that with his life. I hope that people will learn from all those that have died so young, and protect themselves and their children from the sun.