Obituaries

I read each edition of the quarterly IC View, the magazine of the Ithaca College community, from cover to cover including the obituary section. It’s not that I’m morbid; I just like to know how people lived their life. Many obituaries include details of people who served in the United States military and worked as teachers, coaches, and musicians (IC was founded as a music conservatory) and in such roles impacted hundreds and thousands of lives. There were three obituaries that really stood out to me and I felt like sharing these stories.

Lawrence Goldberg ‘49: A fan of the former New York Giants baseball team, he was responsible for the only known recording of the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” walk-off home run hit by Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson, during the Giants’ playoff game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951. The tape captured Russ Hodges’ famous “The Giants Win The Pennant! The Giants Win The Pennant!” call. Goldberg also served in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II and worked in the travel industry.

Arguably the greatest baseball call ever and Goldberg kept it alive!



Burton Stanley ’35, M.S. ’52: After a long career as a music teacher and faculty member, he published a widely used book, Instrument Repair for the Music Teacher (1978) which remains in print today.

I wonder how many music teachers have utilized this book.



James Benedek ‘68: He was a soccer midfielder for IC and first-team All-American in 1965. He played on the 1968 United States Olympic soccer team and went on to a professional career that included stints with the Houston Stars, Kansas City Spurs and Dallas Tornado. He started and coached the men’s soccer program at Southern Methodist University and served as a consultant to the U.S. men’s national soccer team, most recently helping launch a Major League Soccer team in Philadelphia.

As a Division 3 school, IC is not really known for our athletes. The fact that an IC graduate played professional soccer and on the Olympic team is very cool.