Mary Satin Goldman, who was one of the “Rosie the Riveter” generation of women factory workers during World War II, and who is remembered as an “heroic” foster mother by community activist and volunteer Cynthia Kramer of St. Louis, died, Monday, Aug. 27, 2007 in St. Louis, after a brief illness. She was 89 years old.

Mrs. Goldman was born in Chicago on Oct. 27, 1917, and grew up there, attending public schools in the city. During World War II, she became one of thousands of American women who worked in factories to replace the manpower shortage resulting from the millions of men serving in the armed forces. “Mom was really among the ‘Rosie the Riveter’ generation, and we were really proud of that fact,” Cynthia Kramer told the St. Louis Jewish Light. Later, Mrs. Goldman moved to Studio City, California, in the San Fernando Valley.

Admired for her cooking and baking skills, Mrs. Goldman began to sell her signature cheese cakes to Pop’s Pies in California. She married Joseph Goldman, and they had a son, Michael, who has two children, Jason Goldman and Michael Goldman. Mr. Goldman died in 1974. When Cynthia Kramer’s natural mother, Peggy Schlesinger became ill and no longer able to care for her, she became the foster daughter to the Goldmans in 1973, a year before Mr. Goldman died. “It was truly amazing that Mary could be such a terrific foster Mom to me as well as being a Mom to Michael, especially after the sudden passing of her husband, just before he could sign the mortgage papers. Mary and my mom Peggy stayed in close contact through the years, and I am deeply grateful to both of them,” Kramer said.

Kramer remembers Mary Goldman as being “really heroic in her own modest way. She never wanted for herself, and she was such an incredible foster Mom that I never for a moment feared that she would stop caring for me, and I just had the secure knowledge that she would always be there for me and for my brother Michael.”

After Cynthia Kramer moved to St. Louis, Mrs. Goldman moved in with her and her husband Tim Kramer and their two sons, Mitchell, now 15 and Samuel, now 11. “Mary became a real Grandma to both Mitchell and Samuel. Samuel won a national prize for a story he wrote about Mary’s father, Harry Satin, who was a peddler in Chicago, based on his little horse, who was called Ferdyl in Yiddish. My older son Mitchell also became extremely close to Mary and came to regard her with great love and security that she would always be there for him and his brother, just as she has been for me,” Kramer told the Jewish Light.

Mrs. Goldman was active with the study sessions offered by Lori Lasday while she was a resident of the Covenant Chai Apartments, and had been active with B’nai B’rith Women and ORT, among other organizations. She was proud of Cynthia Kramer’s accomplishments as a volunteer activist and cancer survivor and her work on behalf of stem cell research. “At the age of 85, Mary got on the bus with all of us to travel to Jefferson City to push for these causes,” recalls Kramer.

Funeral services were held at the Mount Sinai Cemetery in Los Angeles.

A local memorial service for Mrs. Goldman will be held at 6:15 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 9, at Congregation B’nai Amoona, 324 S. Mason Road.

Among the survivors are her son, Michael Goldman of Studio City, Calif.; a daugher, Cynthia Kramer (Tim) of St. Louis; a sister, Edna Geller, of Las Vegas; and four grandchildren, Jason Goldman of Alabama and Diana Goldman of Texas, and Mitchell Kramer and Samuel Kramer of St. Louis.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Jewish Family and Children’s Service, 10950 Schuetz Road, St. Louis, MO, 63146, or to the World Wildlife Fund.