Longtime Region 8 activist Goldsmith will be missed

George Goldsmith Jr, 61, died April 12 in Troy.

Goldsmith had been a tireless worker for several state agencies, PEF and the State Employees Federated Appeal (SEFA).

“He was a heck of a nice guy,” said PEF Vice President Tom Comanzo, who managed Goldsmith’s 1990 campaign for PEF Region 8 coordinator. Goldsmith lost to Jeff Satz, but the two men formed a friendship that lasted until Satz’s death in 2001.

Goldsmith was a land and claims adjuster II for the office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in Albany when he retired in 2006. He had previously worked many years for the state Office of Real Property Services.

One of the original organizers of PEF, Goldsmith was a delegate to nearly every PEF convention and had served at various times as a steward, council leader, agency labor-management chair and Executive Board member.

“George was very active in PEF Division 305 at Parks and Rec,” said Executive Board member Wesley Bartlett. “In fact, he helped get us our own Executive Board seat. He brought us a lot of history and experience and always had very practical and useful ideas.”

Goldsmith also served on many PEF committees and had been active in SEFA for more than 30 years when, in 2006, he became chair of the newly formed SEFA Council, which he led until his death. — Sherry Halbrook