After Richard Gottfried, a North Hills dentist, lost his father in 1992, he began saying the mourner’s prayer known as kaddish every day to honor his parent’s memory. The Ross resident also started attending services regularly at New Light Congregation in Squirrel Hill.
Dr. Gottfried’s return to his Jewish faith led him to become president of the 70-member congregation in Squirrel Hill. Last November, when the group moved from its Beechwood Boulevard building to Tree of Life, he smiled jubilantly, carrying the sacred scrolls of the Torah in a parade on Denniston Street. His enthusiasm prompted his sister, Carol Gottfried Black, a North Hills audiologist, to study for her bat mitzvah and begin leading services at New Light, too.
Dr. Gottfried, 65, died Oct. 27 in the attack on Tree of Life Synagogue, home to three Jewish congregations. He grew up in Uniontown, the son of Dr. Herbert Gottfried, an orthodontist, and Miriam Gottfried, who taught at Uniontown High School.
A 1970 graduate of Uniontown High School, Dr. Gottfried earned his bachelor’s in English literature from the University of Pittsburgh in 1974 and his dental medicine degree from Pitt in 1980. That same year, he married Margaret A. “Peg” Durachko, a dental school classmate and practicing Roman Catholic. Ms. Durachko earned her dental degree from Pitt the following year.
“It was impressive how supportive they were of one another in practicing their faiths,” said Judy Weitzman, who is Dr. Gottfried’s first cousin and lives in Plum.
Dr. Gottfried and his wife volunteered at Catholic Charities free dental clinic. Since 2011, the couple also were paid part-time staff at the Squirrel Hill Medical Center’s dental clinic on Browns Hill Road, where they provided dental care to refugees and immigrants, many of whom had never seen a dentist.
“He was at our health center on Friday,” said Susan Friedberg Kalson, chief executive officer of the Squirrel Hill Medical Center, referring to the day before the shooting. Last winter, Dr. Gottfried fell twice in his icy driveway while picking up a newspaper and underwent knee surgery.
“He was just so determined to literally get back up on his feet to get back to work. That was impressive,” Ms. Kalson said, adding that “Rich was profoundly connected to his Judaism.”
After working for a large dental practice from 1980 to 1984, Dr. Gottfried and Ms. Durachko opened their own practice in Ross.
Lois Weinstein, of Boca Raton, Fla., was Dr. Gottfried’s Pitt Dental School classmate but had known him since they were teen-agers in B’nai Brith Youth Organization. She said Dr. Gottfried was always happy and nothing ever seemed to bother him. When Dr. Weinstein knew the Squirrel Hill Medical Center needed part-time dentists, she called her colleague and he and his wife "immediately stepped up to the plate."
In 1996, Dr. Gottfried and Ms. Durachko joined the Discovery Study Club, a local group that is part of a worldwide organization of dentists and dental specialists who pursue excellence in dentistry through continuing education lectures and hands-on workshops. In 2003 they completed the advanced curriculum at the Dawson Academy with a focus on advanced occlusal problems and temporomandibular joint disorders, known as TMJ.
Dr. Gottfried enjoyed working out at Club Julian, golfing, reading and running. He finished 28 of Pittsburgh’s Great Races. He and his wife were active in preparing couples for marriage at St. Athanasius Church in West View.
He read regularly about wine and collected it, too. He enjoyed a glass of good wine with his Shabbat dinner on Friday nights.
On special occasions, he brought wine to synagogue functions. He once told dinner guests that "hang time," the number of days grapes stayed on the vine, affected the taste of wine.
People keep asking Dr. Gottfried’s widow what they can do to help.
"Do not let his death be in vain,” Ms. Durachko said. “Drive out evil from your own life and help another to drive it out of their life. The only way to combat evil is with love. "
— Marylynne Pitz
First Published: October 28, 2018, 10:57 p.m.
