by Barbara Sussman and Kieron Kramer
On March 4 the Rensselaer County Bar Association held a Memorial Service at the Rensselaer County Courthouse for attorneys from Rensselaer County who had recently passed away. Rolf M. Sternberg of Hoosick Falls, who died last November, was eulogized by his partner and long-time friend, Edward Gorman. He recalled many anecdotes which brought both tears and smiles to Sternberg’s many friends and colleagues in attendance.
[private]Gorman said, “My partner Rolf Sternberg passed away in November of last year, just days after his 67th birthday. He had battled esophageal cancer for more than a year.” According to Gorman, Sternberg was the child of parents who had escaped from WW II. He was born in Troy and grew up in Hoosick Falls. His parents started a business in the Village, a five and dime
store called Ben Franklin Five and Dime. The Sternberg & Gorman law office is now in the very same space that held that store.
Sternberg graduated from Syracuse University in 1967 and was a great fan of ’Cuse basketball all his life. He then moved to NYC and received his masters in teaching from NYU in 1970. He went on to teach fifth grade in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, known at that time as one of the poorest and dangerous areas in New York City. At the same time he attended law school at night. He received his law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1974. He was admitted to the NYS Bar in 1974 and the Vermont Bar in 1980. Among his professional accomplishments are the following: President of the Bennington County Bar Association, President of the Vermont Trial Lawyers Association, Member of the Board of Governors of the Vermont Association of Justice, Member of the Trial Lawyers of America, Instructor for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Lecturer on Insurance Law and Estate Planning for Peoples Law School, Vince vs. Wilson (1989) – now cited by most law school tort textbooks as the standard for negligent entrustment claims.
Gorman went on to say, “What I have shared with you so far is what Rolf would consider to be the least interesting parts of his life, his professional accomplishments. What was most impressive about Rolf was his character. He was the most optimistic, passionate and compassionate person I have ever met.
Following law school, Sternberg had the opportunity to remain in NYC but always felt the sense of devotion to his hometown of Hoosick Falls and his family. Rolf returned to start a practice, and he soon met his match in another young attorney, Patricia Barr, and in 1980 they married. They had two daughters, Shira and Tava, who are here today from Boston.
For all his successes and achievements as a trial lawyer, it is also interesting that Rolf was uncomfortable with confrontation….I believe that Rolf’s discomfort with confrontation helped him to be as successful as he was for his clients. He would never enter into litigation lightly and was always extremely prepared because of that. Moreover, because of his great compassion, Rolf had a true ability to adopt his client’s concerns and feel the emotion and pain of their matter. He related to the whole person, not just their injury, and he was able to then relate that to opposing counsel, adjusters and jurors…Rolf continued to practice law in Hoosick Falls…doing so allowed Rolf to continue to serve his hometown, his community, his extended family.”
According to Gorman, Sternberg served Hoosick Falls by attempting to better the community. He and several others banded together, purchased the Wood Block Building, a prominent three-story building and cornerstone in the commercial history of Hoosick Falls that was an apartment building in the 80s. They removed the apartments and secured the structure with the hope of revitalization and plans to develop it into artists lofts. He established Civicure in 2000 and the plans for a rural arts center along the river front in Hoosick Falls. Efforts at securing public funding to start the project ran into the great recession. However the plans and vision remain, awaiting a new start. In office meetings at Sternberg & Gorman he would turn the conversation towards his beloved Hoosick Falls and ask, What could be done to better the condition of our community?”
Gorman last saw Sternberg on a beach in Florida in early April of 2012. “He was fit and tan, had just finished his morning run. At the age of 66 and actively battling cancer, Rolf clearly appeared to be the healthier of the two of us. His optimism was bottomless. In fact, in the last weeks of his life, he leased a new car and was considering purchasing a new home. Rolf never smoked, never drank, lived a very healthy lifestyle by all accounts. How could he become a cancer victim. I am asked that all the time by his clients and his friends. No one can understand,” said Gorman.
The Future
After attending the memorial for their father, Shira and Tava Sternberg returned to their father’s office in the Wood Block Building and met with Barbara and Gary Sussman, long-time friends and Board members of the organization Civicure. They discussed Sternberg’s deep rooted and decades-long commitment to the arts and artists of the region. He had envisioned the revitalization of Hoosick Falls through the arts. The Sussmans recollected how they first met Rolf Sternberg in 1978 when they delivered a sculpture by Jose De Creeft for Art in the Park, which Sternberg organized. Art in the Park included notable artists such as George Rickey, Isaac Witkin and Jules Olitski as well as Jose De Creeft. The Sussmans feel that Sternberg was ahead of his time, with his innovative ideas, unique devotion and determination to bring life to the town he grew up in. One of the many projects, besides the Grandma Moses Mural, was the proposed Grandma Moses Heritage Center. Another was a comprehensive book of the artists of the region that Sternberg had begun researching and writing.
Future Civicure projects include developing opportunities for heritage and recreational tourism including an art and history exhibition with the ultimate goal of creating the Grandma Moses Heritage Center and renovating the ballrooms in the Wood Block Building. The Sternberg daughters are committed to continuing the completion and advancement of their father’s projects by becoming involved with Civicure.[/private]