Necrology

Murray Austin Goldstone '54

Feb. 3, 1934-Jul. 18, 2022

Murray Austin Goldstone ’54, P’84 died on July 18, 2022, in Cleveland. Born on Feb. 3, 1934, in Rome, N.Y., he graduated from the Rome Free Academy and entered Hamilton at the age of 16. On the Hill, he majored in history and public policy, was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and graduated as salutatorian of his class. 

On campus, Murray demonstrated a gift for public speaking. As a freshman, he won both the McKinney Prize for persuasive speaking and the Fayerweather Prize Scholarship, awarded to the first-year student with the highest grade point average in his class. He was a member of the Debate Club throughout his time on the Hill, serving as its vice president as a junior. He was a member of Hamilton’s chapter of Delta Sigma Rho, the national honor society devoted to public speaking, and was its vice president, also as a junior. He was a member of the Charlatans during his first two years, sang in the College Choir in both his freshman and sophomore years, and was a member of the International Relations Club during his final two years. He was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa as a senior.

From Hamilton, he proceeded to Harvard Medical School, proof that a Hamilton education can prepare one for further study in any field. During his medical studies, he met Rachel Ann Seder, at the time a student at Wheaton College, at a college mixer. They married on Aug. 10, 1958, and had three children.

At Harvard, he was attracted to surgery but discovered that he was ill-suited to long hours of standing. His subsequent residency at University Hospital in Cleveland (then affiliated with Case-Western Reserve University) drew him to his specialty: psychiatry, a choice he had previously ruled out, along with dentistry. But his required psychiatric residency was a revelation and he found his calling.

 The Goldstones thereafter made Cleveland their home. Murray opened a private psychiatric practice and later became a psychoanalyst and a training analyst. He developed an outstanding reputation as a clinician, and Cleveland Magazine named him one of the region’s top physicians. His analyst students sought him out as their supervisor because of his open-mindedness, willingness to share his expertise, and thoughtful diagnoses, which enabled them to see patients’ conditions in a new light. Murray was an active member of the Cleveland Psychoanalytic Society and served as its president for a time. Determined to remain current regarding developments in his field, he became part of a four-person study group that met weekly for more than 40 years.

Murray was also a man of many interests and was engaged with his neighborhood community. Having observed several generations come of age, he became something of a local historian, able to recall families’ successes and setbacks in a nonjudgmental and supportive way. 

He nurtured a great love of classical music through season tickets to the Cleveland Orchestra and by serving as a board member of the Cleveland Chamber Music Society, eventually becoming its president. He was a devoted attendee of the Cleveland International Piano Competition and also had an enormous collection of CDs. He even named his 16’ sailboat after the character Papageno from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. In time, his children and grandchildren expanded his musical horizons to include the Beatles, Broadway show tunes, and Leonard Cohen.

Gardening, long walks in the neighborhood with his dogs, engagement in book discussion groups, and watching Cleveland’s professional sports teams win or lose rounded out his curiosity, reflecting interests that in some cases were first cultivated on the Hill.

Murray was an active alumnus of the College, serving as an officer in the Alumni Association and on his class and reunion gift committees. To him, the reason for his engagement was obvious, as he related in his 50th reunion yearbook: “Coming [as I did] to the Hill so young (16) from a small town, Hamilton became a true alma mater — exciting and leading me in a way that no other academic experience has duplicated. The interest and attention of the faculty and the seriousness of the honor system prepared me for the only branch of medicine I could have fully enjoyed and set me up for a panoply of liberal arts to revel in for the rest of my life.”

Murray A. Goldstone was predeceased by his wife and his cousin, William J. Goldstone ’64. He is survived by his partner Martine Kowal, his daughter, two sons, including Bruce J. Goldstone ’84, and four granddaughters. 

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