Obituary of Robert S. Milstein

ROBERT S.MILSTEIN 1929-2009 BALLSTON SPA, NEW YORK Robert S. Milstein, age 80, died peacefully at home on Tuesday, October 13, 2009, surrounded by his loving family. Born in Albany on July 16, 1929, the son of Jacob and Ida Milstein, Bob grew up on Morris Street with his brother, Jay, and a host of friends and neighbors who remained important to him throughout his lifetime. He was a graduate of Albany High School and Siena College, where he and his childhood friend, Marvin Freedman, began their shared, lifelong passion for Siena basketball as statisticians for the team. On Morris Street, working with his parents in the family grocery store, Bob learned the basic values of decency, responsibility, integrity and community that he carried with him into his life and his business. There he developed his good nature and his genuine interest in people. Bob was a natural storyteller with an uncanny memory for people and places, who treated everyone he met with consideration and respect. Although he lived a number of different places in the Albany area over his lifetimeand was a twenty year winter resident of Sarasota, Floridain his heart, Bob always remained the boy who grew up on Morris Street. Bob married Patricia Rudnick in 1954 and together they built a wonderful life, a beautiful family and a successful business. Bob started Albany Travel in 1955; when he retired in 1983, the business had five offices, over 50 employees and thousands of customers who Bob knew by name. Bob is survived by Patricia, his wife of fifty-five years; their children, Mark and Barbara Milstein, David Milstein, and Janice Milstein and Lee Breslau; their grandchildren, Stephanie, Alex, Rachel, Sophie and Jake Milstein and Rachel and Hannah Breslau; and his brother-in-law, Steven Rudnick. Services at Congregation Beth Emeth 100 Academy Road in Albany, NY on Thursday October 15, 2009 at 1:00pm. Interment will follow in the Beth Emeth Cemetery in Loudonville, New York Shiva is going to be on Thursday and Saturday (after Shabbos) at the home of Mark and Barbara Milstein, 23 Summerfield Lane, Saratoga, New York.