Ned Goldberg
Longtime Executive Director of JCRS, Ned Goldberg, Passes Away
NED GOLDBERG, the longtime public face of Jewish Regional Children’s Service (JCRS), died on December 25. Goldberg, who retired in 2022 after 33 years of continuous service to the agency, was 72.
Goldberg oversaw a remarkable period of growth for JCRS as it expanded its existing programs intended to help special needs children and to provide financial relief for Jewish families from across the mid-south including camperships to Jewish summer camps and college scholarships.
Originally founded in 1855 as a home for Jewish widows and orphans, many of whom were victims of yellow fever epidemics, JCRS is the oldest continuously operating Jewish charity in the nation.
After graduating from his hometown’s University of Cincinnati in 1973, Goldberg became a licensed social worker with a master’s degree earned at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. He served groups at risk for more than a decade and worked in South Florida before relocating to New Orleans in 1988.
During his tenure, Goldberg oversaw many revamped goals for JCRS, including providing funding for undergraduate college education and Jewish summer camp scholarships. However, he always remembered those former members of the Jewish Home who had received assistance there as well.
He helped develop what is now the Oscar J. Tolmas Hanukkah Gift Program, where various gifts are sent to needy, deserving Jewish children during the holiday. With major support from the Goldring Family Foundation, Goldberg welcomed the nationally heralded PJ Library Program that serves more than 800 Jewish youngsters with free subscriptions of books.
In making the announcement about Goldberg’s passing, current JCRS executive director Mark Rubin and board president Michael Goldman jointly said: “Ned led an exemplary life and cemented JCRS’s legacy as an impactful and respected agency. His life will be a guiding light for us at JCRS. He was loved by all who knew him. He shared his kindness, his wisdom, and his sense of humor with all who knew him.”
Goldberg is survived by wife, Wendy, and his two children, Adam and Jodie.
Donations can be made in Ned’s name at www.jcrs.org/donate.
Learn more about the ABC’s of Ned here!
Children’s book in loving memory of Ned Goldberg. Illustrated by Gripless (Zach Weinstein). All proceeds benefit JCRS — the non-profit where Ned devoted his career to assisting Jewish children across the south.
