Obituary of Eileen Gold

EILEEN ANITA GOLD Eileen Gold passed away on December 24, 2022, at the age of 84. She was born on January 9, 1938, in Rochester, New York to Albert and Hannah Pomerantz. As a toddler Eileen’s family moved to Boyle Heights in Los Angeles in a one-bedroom apartment where she slept in the bedroom, while her doting parents slept on a pullout in the living room. She attended Fairfax High School and took courses at the Junior College. After receiving excellent marks in school, Eileen was courted by the FBI. Instead, she chose to work at the downtown Los Angeles Public Library because it had better hours! During this time, Eileen met and dated Marvin Gold, who became the love of her life. She had a very structured way of looking at things and was both practical and organized. She had strict criteria for dating, including that her potential mate must have a short last name, not be too hairy, live close by and have a steady paying job. Luckily, Marvin met and exceeded her criteria, leading to a wonderful marriage lasting sixty-three years! After their wedding in 1959, they moved to an apartment in Los Angeles where they enjoyed life and hosted music listening nights of newly released albums. When Eileen became pregnant with their first child, they moved to Garden Grove. In 1962 they had son Corey Alan, followed by daughter Andria Louise in 1965. Marvin continued to work as an insurance salesman and began teaching for the Anaheim Union High School District. After the success of Marvin’s book, “Modern Applied Mathematics”, Marvin and Eileen moved their family to Anaheim, where they lived on Scarborough Lane for over 50 years. As a full-time homemaker, Eileen felt it was important to care for their children and wanted to ensure they didn’t interrupt Marvin’s ability to do his best work. She felt this would provide the greatest happiness for the family. For example, Marvin recently recalled that he never once got up to tend to his children in the middle of the night or changed any diapers, because Eileen was such an attentive and caring mother and wife. From the time her children started elementary school until they graduated high school, Eileen was there to greet them when they got home. Being a wife, mother, daughter, aunt, cousin, grandmother and grand aunt brought Eileen some of the greatest joys of her life. By the early eighties, when her children were both in high school, Eileen worked as a bookkeeper for a local tennis club, Tennis Land. She then became an Enrolled Agent while working at H&R Block, where she was soon promoted to manager. Shortly after this, Eileen’s friend from temple asked if she would leave H&R Block to work at his tax and accounting practice as a tax preparer. She agreed, and during her second year she was promoted to junior partner. The following year they ran the office together. Eileen had many loyal tax clients with whom she enjoyed a wonderful relationship for many years. Eileen was a very practical person, and her pragmatism impacted all areas of her life. Decisions were made based on what was most logical to her and her particular sensibilities. Eileen cleverly arranged a work schedule that suited her best, so as not to interfere with her other passions. She would play tennis in the morning, then do her work, watch her soap operas and be done by the time school was over. She chose a smaller house in Anaheim, rather than a larger home in Villa Park, based on the proximity of the schools. This made her life simpler, as her kids could walk to school and temple. Eileen was ahead of her time. Passionate about individual rights, she was pro-choice, an advocate for gay rights, believing that all should be able to love and marry the person of their choice, and she felt that drugs should be legalized, taxed and used responsibly by those who took them. Those close to her know that she believed in the right to die, and never wished to live in an incapacitated manner, but ironically, she died of advanced dementia. Eileen always welcomed Marvin’s poker group, which rotated from home to home. She hosted family for breaking the fast on Yom Kippur and threw birthday parties for her children every year. The Gold’s door was always open for her children and their friends, and Eileen was happy to provide snacks that could be microwaved or prepared in the toaster oven, such as frozen burritos and pizza. Some interesting and fun facts about Eileen include: She enjoyed giving practical gifts such as Totes slippers and socks as a yearly Hanukkah gift to each member of the family. Though she barely used her oven, she was an excellent chopper, making amazing egg, tuna and macaroni salads. When she liked a certain style of shoe or clothing, she bought multiples in different colors, so that she could continue to enjoy them over time. She always knew where to find the best rates for CDs. She enjoyed taking trips to Vegas with Marvin to play blackjack and eat out. She always carried rubber bands in her purse to keep the left-over boxes from spilling. Eileen was a rule follower with a heart; she did the right thing simply for the sake of doing good. She was known to be stubborn and see things in a black and white manner, but she was also soft spoken, rarely raising her voice and never using profanity. She was decisive and strong willed and when she made up her mind, she made up her mind. Instead of getting angry, she would laugh, shrug, raise her eyebrows and gently throw up her hands with a little smile. She knew how to agree to disagree, which made for a very happy marriage and home. She was a good listener, open and available, and her children knew they could always talk to her about anything. Giving to both her family and her community was important to Eileen. With Marvin’s encouragement Eileen joined ORT, the women’s group at Temple Beth Emet, and eventually served as President. Eileen also was a Trustee for the Court in Orange County, assisting those who needed it with financial direction. She and Marvin regularly donated to their temple and other charities. Eileen always remembered her family’s birthdays, sending cards and gifts. For the wedding anniversaries of their children, Eileen and Marvin granted a reward style gift of a hundred dollars times the number of years they were married each and every year. Although Eileen did not attend religious services (outside of the children’s services on the High Holidays), in her later years she loved to play poker at the synagogue with her long-standing friends’ group. She and Marvin had a special lunch bunch that met once a month for many years. Marvin and Eileen co-owned several commercial stores with longtime friends Myrna and Jerry Sheinblum. Eileen handled the financial aspects and leases, while Marvin loved managing the stores and talking with his tenants, who became extended family. Eileen is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Andria and Stephen Bock, daughter-in-law Adrienne Gold, grandchildren and their spouses, Sara Gold, Aaron Bock and Fennel Maya, Rebecca Gold, and Emma (Bock) and Terence White, niece and husband, Heather Gold Pollak and Steve Pollak, grandnephew Richard Erwin Gold Pollak, grandniece Elyse Claire Gold Pollak, and many cousins and numerous friends that she considered family. Thank you for sharing in this celebration of Eileen Gold’s life. Private Services are Thursday, December 29, 2022 Harbor Lawn - Mount Olive Memorial Park You are invited to join the family after the service at Marvin & Eileen’s home at 4:00 pm at: 1340 South Scarborough Lane, Anaheim, Ca 92804 ~ 818-652-1939 (Stephen Bock)