Obituary of Norman Joseph Herzberg

NORMAN JOSEPH HERZBERG passed away peacefully at his home in New Rochelle October 6, 2020. He was born in Brooklyn, New York April 30, 1928 to Rose Lichtblau, a bookkeeper for a milliner and Louis Herzberg, a chemist with several cosmetics patents. His parents separated early in his life and he and his older sister Bernice lived with their mother who suffered from hearing loss from early in her life. He graduated from James Madison High School in Brooklyn in 1944 and attended UCLA College of Business Administration earning a degree in management and economics in 1948. After college he entered the US Army Finance School in St Louis and spent time in California before being stationed in Puerto Rico in 1949 and Panama in 1949-1950 in the finance division as a chief financial officer, instructor and lecturer. He remained in the reservists for several years while he earned a Masters in Economics from Brooklyn College in 1952 while simultaneously beginning work at Bausch and Lomb in 1951 before landing at Revlon Inc. in 1951 where he served for over 40 years as the director of executive personnel compensation. In 1961 he met his loving wife Sydelle Shulman and they were married in 1962. They lived in New Rochelle throughout their marriage. After retirement he pursued many interests including running, logging thousands of miles a little at a time. He was an avid numismatist collecting American, Israeli, and Canadian coins. He would say it was not the value of the coin but rather the story behind its subject that interested him. Furthering this thought his other passion was history with an interest in the Civil and American Revolutionary wars, reading hundreds of books on the subjects and having visited many battle sights. He also loved local history serving as president of the Thomas Paine/ New Rochelle Huguenot Historical Association for many years. He often said if he had a different career he would have been a history professor. He was also an ardent NY Yankee and UCLA Bruin fan and past member of the Knights of the Pythias and the League of Women Voters. Always kind, gentle, humble, polite, courteous with a smile and story of historical significance at the tip of his tongue or words of wisdom to impart on others. In addition to his parents he was predeceased by his sister Bernice Singer. He leaves behind his wife of 58 years Sydelle and son Gilbert (Martha), grandchildren Rebecca, Adam, and Jonah, Nephew David Shulman, and nieces Stephanie Shulman, Anne Hartman, and Ellen Singer. He was loved and will be dearly missed. Donations may be made to the Huguenot and New Rochelle Historical Association, www.thomaspainecottage.org