Carol Barnett Goldstein

A Woman Who Lit Up Every Room She Entered Carol was Bronx-born and Bronx-made. She was shaped by her parents, Dorothy Lieberman Blumkin and Manuel "Manny" Blumkin, and graced from her earliest years by the presence of her beloved grandmother, Lena "Lee" Hirschfield Lieberman, an amazing cook who provided her with the love of food and a role model of inner strength and love of family. She grew up alongside her younger brother, Don Barnett. Together, they forged an inseparable, loving sibling bond. Many an adventurous story was shared of subway rides to the Lower East Side to visit their grandmother and times spent at the movies and the beach. In their most recent years, they found themselves together again, living in Houston, sharing stories, laughs, lunches, and playing Rummikub, still joyfully competitive, both striving to be the winner. Carol and her family moved from the Big Apple to the small town of Las Cruces, New Mexico. What a culture shock! She began a career working at White Sands Missile Range, moving up the ranks all while being crowned runner-up in the Miss White Sands beauty pageant. In Las Cruces, she met her future husband, Harold Goldstein, and they embraced the beauty of the desert. After a honeymoon in Las Vegas, they created a home and life together. With this union, she gained a much larger family with Harold's beloved sister Shirley and her four children, Mike, Deborah, Sharon, and Ron. She loved being their Aunt Carol! Her home was filled with love and laughter. She danced with Harold whenever the music gave her an excuse. She sang too - loudly, joyfully, and with almost no regard for pitch. Her Sunday favorites were Barbra Streisand, Tom Jones, Johnny Mathis, Engelbert Humperdinck, My Fair Lady, and Fiddler on the Roof. Sunday also meant tacos. Sunday was definitely a ceremony in her house. Carol loved to travel the world, including places such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Fiji, and England. She met the Māori Queen and was received by Elizabeth II and shared tea with the Queen Mother in London. She enjoyed teaching in special education as an aide and became the glue keeping the surgery department together at the VA. She advocated fiercely for others, spoke her convictions out loud, and never traded justice for comfort. She bent the rules, though, when it came to games! Cheerfully, strategically, she played to win by hook or crook when the stakes were high in Rummikub, Bingo, and Mahjong, to name a few! At the center of everything were her three children - her son Mark T. Goldstein, and her daughters Janine L. Goldstein and Danielle A. Howland. She loved them the way she did most things: wholly, loudly, and without reservation. They were her foundation. She had an Elizabeth Taylor beauty - the kind that doesn't age out, the kind that wins pageants and still stops a room decades later. Her smile was the first thing people noticed. Her laugh was full-volume, completely unrestrained. Her sneeze was seismic! She made things with her hands: paintings, jewelry, mosaics, knitting. She stayed up late watching Bruce Lee films and old movies, reading books cover to cover. She cooked for the people she loved and learned something new whenever she could. Through the years, she shared her home and her heart with a beloved menagerie of dogs and a cat - Licky, Mazel, Mistie, Snowflake, Sam, Cat George, and Lilly. Each one a cherished companion, lucky to have landed with someone who loved so generously. Carol's family grew into something magnificent. Her grandchildren were among her greatest joys. She bragged on them freely and without restraint. Their talents amazed her. Their adventures thrilled her. She showed up for all of it in the early years, and as her health began to slow her steps, she refused to let it dim her presence. She stayed fiercely in touch through visits, phone calls, art she made with her own hands, and photographs that traveled back and forth like love letters. She always knew what they were chasing, who they were becoming, and what mattered to them. Distance and difficulty changed the how, but never the devotion. She was proud of every single one of them. Then came the great-grandchildren, ten souls who brought her much joy! She was ferocious in her love for family, for knowledge, for the great ongoing adventure of being alive in a world with so many places still to see, so many songs still to sing, so much art still to make and so many games left to win. SHE IS SURVIVED BY BROTHER Don Barnett CHILDREN Dr. Mark T. Goldstein & wife Christie Goldstein · Dr. Janine L. Goldstein & wife Dr. Patricia A. Murphy · Danielle A. Howland & husband Dr. George R. Howland GRANDCHILDREN Leah Goldstein & partner Jason Sparks · Daniel Goldstein & wife Jasmin Goldstein · Christian Ramsey & wife Amy Ramsey · Dawson Pietsch & wife Stefania Pietsch · Ryleigh Pietsch · Asher Goldstein · Orli Goldstein · Judah Goldstein · Hannah Kriese & husband Mike Kriese · Thomas Goldstein · Gabrielle Goldstein · Benjamin Goldstein GREAT-GRANDCHILDREN Bodhi Goldstein · Oliver Goldstein · Avery Sparks · Callum Ramsey · Dillyn Ramsey · Lyrika Van Vliet · Fayt Van Vliet · Camden Boyd · Noam Kriese · Felix Kriese NIECES AND NEPHEWS Michael Saks & wife Pam Saks · Deborah Marlin · Ron Saks · Rodney Gappelberg GREAT NIECES AND NEPHEWS Tory Saks · Joey Saks · Alli Leija & husband Chris Leija · Molly Durbin & husband Joel Durbin · Reena Cartwright GREAT GREAT NIECE AND NEPHEWS Gabe Leija · Micah Durbin · Jonah Durbin PRECEDED IN DEATH BY HUSBAND Harold S. Goldstein SISTER-IN-LAW AND BROTHER-IN-LAW Shirley Schecter · Walter Reed Kellam NIECE Sharon Gappelberg PARENTS Dorothy Lieberman Blumkin and Manuel "Manny" Blumkin GRANDMOTHER Lena "Lee" Hirschfield Lieberman BELOVED ANIMAL COMPANIONS Licky · Mazel · Mistie · Snowflake · Sam · Cat George · Lilly Beautiful. Irreplaceable. Loud in all the best ways.

Carol Barnett Goldstein

June 8, 1936 - April 6, 2026