Obituary of Sheldon Weinberg

On October 15, 1939, Sheldon Weinberg was born to Joseph and Pauline Weinberg at the Unity Hospital in Brooklyn, New York. He was the youngest of three children, having two older sisters, Sheila and Marilyn. They all lived in such a small apartment that Shelly didn’t have his own room and slept on a cot in his parent’s bedroom for much of his youth. He spent a lot of his time as a child playing with his cousin and life-long friend Eddie Summerfeld who lived in the same building. They spent their free time playing stickball in the streets, talking and laughing.

Shelly attended Stony Brook University although he did not graduate from there. After his third  year, he dropped out and took the entrance examination for the US Air Force for which he received a perfect score. A “local-boy-does-good” newspaper article was written about this achievement and his mother kept it forever, of course. Given his high marks, the Air Force gave him the option of training to become a combat navigator. He declined this opportunity on the grounds that he “did not want to drop bombs on people.” Instead, he joined the nascent computing division which led to a 25+ year career working for the Air Force.

He met Rachel McDonough in 1966 by virtue of the fact that they both lived in the same apartment building on Josephine Street in Denver. Rachel lived on the top floor and Shelly lived on the second. Rachel remembers seeing his name on the mailbox on the day she moved in and, “In my snarky way I thought, well if you’re going to be Jewish you might as well have the name Sheldon Weinberg!” Soon enough Shelly asked her out and she agreed. They palled around with Shelly’s Air Force buddy Dorsey Barnum and his wife Francine. The Barnums remained close friends of the Weinbergs for many years and their children all grew up together.

In 1970 Shelly asked Rachel to marry him and she said yes. This was unusual for a couple of reasons. For one thing, Rachel had been in the habit of declining marriage proposals. For another, Shelly was not Christian and Rachel was not Jewish. This arrangement wasn’t considered “kosher” by many at the time and led to some problems, primarily with Shelly’s parents. His mother had a very difficult time accepting that her son wanted to marry outside the faith. Shelly’s sister Marilyn intervened on his behalf and let Pauline know that there was no changing his mind and that if she wanted her son (and grandchildren) to be a part of her life then she would have to accept it. She did. In short order she came to love Rachel, “forgot all about it” and fully accepted her as part of the family.

They had originally planned to marry in Denver but could not find a rabbi to officiate. Sheldon remembered in particular one rabbi of a prominent temple telling Rachel in regards to being interfaith in the Jewish community that “they’ll tell you that they will accept you but they never will,” implying that she should give it up and find someone else to marry. Instead they traveled to New York City where they were married in the home of a rabbi overlooking Central Park. Shelly wore a dark suit, pink shirt, a red tie and sported huge mutton chops. Rachel wore her mother’s 1928 wedding dress. The wedding reception was attended by both Sheldon and Rachel’s families who enjoyed getting to know each other for many years to come.

Before having kids, Shelly became a potter - making pots, platters, and vessels. Pottery came naturally to him and he was very productive.  He was a member of the Colorado Potters Guild and he sold a good number of his pots at the time. His family enjoys using and displaying his pottery to this day.

Shelly and Rachel returned to Denver and bought a house in Park Hill at 16th and Clermont Street where they would live for the next 50+ years. They were pleased to be a part of one of Denver’s naturally integrated neighborhoods. In Park Hill they also found a welcoming reform Jewish community at Temple Micah.

Their family soon expanded when Josh and Becky were born. Shelly loved raising his children and was very close to them both during their childhood. They remember so many activities such as camping in the Colorado mountains, taking long family road trips, building Legos, telling stories, going swimming, playing soccer (he coached Josh’s soccer team for a season), ice skating (in the father-daughter number annually at the DU Ice Show) and reading so many books. Shelly had a real knack for expressive and dramatic reading.

He also dedicated himself to his work. After a brief period as an enlisted serviceman, he spent most of his career as a civilian working for the Air Force Accounting and Finance Center at Lowry Air Force Base. He started out writing assembly language code for the IBM System/360 mainframe computer.

Rachel remembers that he hated the idea of ever being judged poorly for his work and was driven to excel to avoid this. His work ethic led to a long string of promotions. In 1986 as part of his management training he took an opportunity to work at the Pentagon in Washington DC. He moved with his family to Reston, Virginia for two years after which they returned to Denver to the same home on Clermont Street.

After his stint at the Pentagon he was prepared for a larger role in the organization and was eventually promoted to Director of Information Technology Services at the then renamed Defense Finance and Accounting Service Center. This group accounted for all money Congress appropriated for the Air Force. He retired from the Federal Government in 1996.

After retiring, Shelly was able to turn his attention to one of his passions: traveling with his family and friends. Shelly and Rachel traveled to Alaska, Europe, Russia, China, India, Africa, Egypt and the Dalmatian coast. They travelled within the United States with their children and grandchildren. He went sailing with his friend Willi Nunns. Planning these trips was one of the best parts of taking them as far as Shelly was concerned. As an extremely organized and detail oriented person, he took great care in meticulously researching trips, planning the transportation, and recording all of the necessary details.

While in Denver, Shelly dedicated much of his time during retirement to volunteering for organizations that were important to him. He volunteered for The Children’s Hospital for over 10 years, holding babies, reading books to kids, and keeping children company while they spent time in the hospital without their family. The volunteer program was intended to make the kids feel like kids, not patients, as the volunteers had nothing to do with their medical care. Making kids feel heard and seen may have been one of Shelly’s superpowers and he received the Volunteer of the Year award for his exemplary work there.

When he wasn’t travelling or volunteering, Shelly was probably reading books to his cherished grandchildren, Lila and Michael. He took so much joy in reading books and playing games with them, listening to their stories, and making them feel so special and loved. As they grew up, Shelly loved spending time with his grandkids. He was a constant and loving caregiver who eagerly attended their Chinese New Year celebrations, preschool and kindergarten graduations as well as Lila’s ballet performances.  He worked on solving Michael’s mazes and listened closely as Michael educated him about his latest subject of interest (black holes, for example).  He also stepped up without hesitation to attend to Lila’s medical needs.  

Shelly began having some serious health difficulties in his eighties, including Parkinson’s and in December of 2024, a stroke. He faced these difficult challenges with courage and kindness.

Shelly was sincere and effusive, never missing an opportunity to tell his family he was proud of them, or what a good job they were doing. He will be remembered for his integrity and his gentle and kind nature. He was a role model for working hard, treating others with gratitude and respect, approaching the world with curiosity, and loving his friends and family without limit. He will be missed and remembered by everyone who knew and loved him. 

Service on Monday, March 10th, at 11am at Feldman Mortuary (1673 York Street, Denver CO 80206.) Service live streamed via Feldman Mortuary's YouTube channel.  Private interment to follow. 

Contributions in Sheldon's name may be made to Children's Hospital Colorado.