JOSEPH COOPERSTEIN

1937 - 2014

Joseph Melvin Cooperstein Real estate broker and president of medical device firm, 77, service is today at Edison temple Joseph Melvin Cooperstein, a former real estate broker, local businessman and author, died peacefully on Friday, Dec. 19, 2014, due to complications from polycystic kidney disease and heart disease. He was 77 years old, and a longtime resident of Edison, N.J. and Boynton Beach, Fla. Joe was a longstanding member of Temple Emanuel, 100 James St., Edison, N.J., where the funeral service will be held today at 11:15 a.m. The burial will follow at Beth Israel Cemetery in Woodbridge, N.J. The family welcomes visits of consolation at the Cooperstein home following the burial, and on Monday and Tuesday between 1 and 4 and 7 and 9 p.m. For further information, please call J.L. Apter Memorial Chapels of Maplewood, (973)376-2600, www.philipapterandson.com Joe was born in Brownsville, N.Y. on March 20, 1937. He was the son of Samuel and Sylvia Cooperstein and the youngest of three children. He graduated from Jefferson High School at age 15, and then went to college. Joe entered the U.S. Air Force and was honorably dischaged four years later. When he was discharged from the Air Force, he moved back to New York, where he met his beautiful, devoted wife of 55 years, Goldie Gale Kupersmith. They married and had three girls and a houseful of pets. Following a long and successful career in commercial real estate, Joe acquired and built Permark Inc., a medical device company, which he ran as president until the sale of the company when he retired in 2004. Joe loved local and national politics and political debates and was long-standing member of the Republican Party and the Chamber of Commerce. Early in his life, he loved athletics. He especially loved to dance with his wife, see Broadway musicals with his daughters, and was forever navigating behind the wheel on adventures with his family. Later in life, Joe loved to travel, and play golf and bridge. He was never without his Swiss Army pocket knife and could fix almost anything that was broken. Joe had always wanted to write a book and in 2013, he published his first novel. "One Way Do Not Enter." Joe was blessed to receive a kidney transplant in 1999, and thereafter became an ardent supporter and participant in the Polycystic Kidney Foundation and the Transplant Game of America. Joe's greatest joy in life was spending time with his wife and family. Joe had three daughters, Robyn Cooperstein Del Negro (Ralph Del Negro); Suzanne Cooperstein Gottuso (Richard Gottuso), and Stephanie Cooperstein Matut, and seven grandchildren that he adored, Sara, Sam, Ralph Michael, Emily, Nathaniel, Jacqueline and Isabella. He took great delight in attending his grandchildren's school functions and sporting events, dance recitials, and taking them on family cruises. Joe was fortunate to have a large extended family of sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, many wonderful nieces, nephews, and close family friends. He was predeceased by his brother, George Cooperstein; sister-in-law, Theresa; his beloved sister, Gloria Silverman and her husband, Stanley Silverman. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Polycystic Kidney Foundation, www.pkdcure.org, or Temple Emanuel, www.edisontemple.org.