It wasn’t easy for Harry Goldschlag when his eyesight began slipping away while he was in college.
But he was able to channel his rage over the loss into helping other blind people.
Goldschlag, who died Nov. 21 at age 87, was a co-founder of Families of the Blind, which helps seniors adjust to being blind or visually impaired.
The organization, now called Senior Vision Connection Program, is part of Health S.E.T. (Service, Empowerment, Transformation), a Denver nonprofit that provides care to low-income seniors.
June Davis, co-founder with Goldschlag, met him when she was in rehab after a stroke.
“I raised funds for Families of the Blind, and Harry helped me write the grant requests,” said Davis, who became executive director.
The organization formed 16 support groups, put out a newsletter, which Goldschlag wrote, and steered the visually impaired to places where they could get help – whether it was with guide dogs or visual aids.
Support groups were high on the list, Davis said. People could meet with one another and talk about their problems, and the families met with one another to discuss their frustrations in dealing with blind family members, she said.
The blind and visually impaired “didn’t feel alone anymore,” said Davis, who is sighted. “Their needs had been ignored.”
Harry Goldschlag was born Feb. 10, 1919, in New York and graduated from James Monroe High School there.
He got a football scholarship to a college in Iowa, said his daughter Tia Goldschlag of Denver. His parents were so poor, they could give him only $2 for the trip. He hitchhiked.
He was unable to finish college because of diminishing eyesight, she said. For a while, he was able to work with the Civilian Conservation Corps building roads.
He loved to write and got a job putting out a weekly newsletter for a taxi company in New York. Becoming blind “was a blow to him because writing was his passion,” his daughter said.
He served on the Colorado Governor’s Council on the Handicapped and at one time edited The Handicapped Coloradan, a journal.
He married Rochelle Goldman in 1960. She preceded him in death.
In addition to his daughter, he is survived by another daughter, Amanda Airov of Kingston, Ontario; one grandchild; and his sister, Lee Stone of Fort Lee, N.J.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at vculver@denverpost.com or 303-954-1223.
