HANK (Herman Louis) GOLDSMITH

1962 - 2013
Late Wednesday evening, June 5, 2013, at the tender age of 50, Hank Goldsmith passed away peacefully at home surrounded with love, family and friends.

Hank was a self-described Jewish boy from Brooklyn. He lived in Manhattan, but he remained rooted in the old neighborhood and experiences of his youth: the rambling farm house at 390 Marlborough Road, PS 139, Edward R. Murrow High School and Camp Lakota in the Catskills.

Hank graduated cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center in 1987 and made partner at Proskauer Rose LLP in 1997. His quick wit and humor permeated his professional and personal life, once serving a mock subpoena on a friend to explain his delay in producing video footage of a band gig. Hank had extraordinary work ethic and loved the law; during his battle with pancreatic cancer, he kept it up as it did the same for him.

Hank was equally passionate about his family, friends and music. Hank embraced process and tradition. Every morning, he meticulously selected his suit, shirt and tie and donned his sole-worn Beatle boots to greet a "law day" bursting at the seams. Hank was a gentleman who walked on the street-side of the side walk, so his wife could be protected on the inside, and prided himself on being the head of a very large household. He was a doting daddy to his "little men-in-training," told intricately plotted bedtime stories, whipped up huge breakfasts for five ravenous boys and built iron-clad memories during family trips. Hank was also an earnest listener, whether with a client, colleague or an offended boy needing an injustice adjudicated because the natural boy jury couldn't do so itself.

A self-taught musician and vocalist, Hank played the recorder, guitar, bass, ukulele, piano, drums and the shruti box. He rip-rocked and roared over three decades in many cover bands, including the Newspaper Taxis (Beatles), the Carjackers (The Cars) and the Petty Thieves (Tom Petty). The Beatles, however, were indubitably his favorite band.

Hank passed long before his time. Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols, whose irreverent music spoke to Hank in his youth, said it best, "Have you ever felt cheated?" Yes, we do, but we remember Hank for his insurmountable courage, tenacity, music, indomitable spirit and his heart tender for those he loved.

Hank was the only son of Norman and Dorothy Goldsmith and is survived by his wife, Deborah Lee, sons Jake, Ryan and Eric, stepsons Avery and Ethan, mother Dorothy, sister Manette and her husband Scott, nephews Michael and Marc, niece Mandi, her husband Brad and their little baby Gavin. His legacy also continues through the music he loved and many life-long friends.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Lustgarten Foundation, committed to finding a cure for pancreatic cancer.