Career Path

It has come to my attention that there has been those in our family who have been ambivalent and uncertain when choosing a major in college and subsequently a career. I believe that most people “fall in” to a career or have one chosen them by their parents. I do not believe that many, at the age of twelve, say, “I want to be a doctor” and become a doctor. I do believe that the newborn whose father is the managing partner in a prestigious law firm will eventually become a member of that law firm. But for the rest of us, we “fall in.”

Larry was at loose ends when his friend, Arthur Lawrence, decided to sell his florist supply business. Larry was ready to “fall in.” When David’s friend, Michael Rombro, began his business supplying single dosage drugs to institutions and needed some to manage it, David “fell in.” Momma and I chose once and “fell in” once. Let me explain.

When I finished my work for a Masters degree in marketing and market research there was a recession and I could not find a suitable job. I knew how to cut meat and with my business education, we borrowed five thousand dollars and purchased the soon to be known Kenmar Food Market. It was a dingy, dark, old-fashioned mom and pop grocery at 238 South Stricker Street. We set to work modernizing the business. We cleaned up the place, purchased a self service refrigerated case and made the store semi self service. Business boomed and before long we had a major portion of the neighborhood business. We paid the loan even though Risa, Larry, Arnold, Marc and Phyllis arrived within the next four years. We purchased the building at 301 South Stricker Street and moved when the lease at 238 expired. We purchased new shelving and fixtures for 301 and when the tenant who lived in the room behind the store moved, we doubled the size of the store. Our sales circular each week drew in even more customers. The store bulged with merchandise, even to the point of hanging some from the ceiling. We purchased a house at 1512 McHenry Street and moved in 1953. We moved to Merville Avenue in 1959. We were busy, productive; life was good and interesting.

Then came the letdown. We had most of the business in the neighborhood. We even went so far as to look to purchase a larger store. But an examination of the records revealed that although the revenue was ten times that of the Kenmar Food Market, the headaches were also tenfold and the net profit was the same. There was no more challenge. I was bored.

Then came Charlie Oberman! Charlie was a detail man for a food broker. His job consisted of visiting food stores and convincing them to buy and feature the food products sold by his employer. As with most salesmen who came into the store, we became friends. Charlie’s brother was a chauffeur and go-fer for Congressman Samuel N. Friedel (D. Md. 5th Congressional District). Congressman Friedel and Delegate Marvin Mandel (D. Md. 5th Legislative District) were members of the Crosstown Democratic Club whose sole purpose was their election and re-election. It was in the early 1960s that Charlie Oberman introduced me to the Crosstown Democratic Club. I was fascinated! When the President, David Kramer was forced to resign because he became a Federal employee forbidden to be and officer of a political organization by the Hatch Act, I became President. Every office seeker came to the Crosstown and I introduced them. When Willy Don first ran for the Baltimore City Council, I introduced him. He later became Baltimore’s Mayor and Maryland’s Governor and Comptroller; William Donald Schaeffer. Benjy Cardin ran for the Maryland Legislature from the 5th District; he is now Senator Benjamin Cardin (D, Md.). I knew them all and they knew me. Pretty heady stuff for a thirty-some year old grocer from Stricker Street!

I asked Speaker Marvin Mandel if I could work during the 1965 Session of the General Assembly and spent the session working as Administrative Assistant to the Speaker. I learned so much about the operation of the Legislature and the State of Maryland. Even though Momma and I continued to operate the Kenmar Food Market, my boredom had vanished. When I decided that I wanted to work for the State of Maryland, Marvin Mandel steered me to Henry Miller, Commissioner of Labor and Industry. And when my job necessitated some legal knowledge, Momma encouraged me to go to law school at night, “Just take a couple of courses.” One course led to another and another and before I knew it, I was sworn in as an attorney in 1976.

It all started with Charlie Oberman; he was my “fall in.”

So do not despair. If it doesn’t come today, some day you will “fall in.”

Hebrew School

During the early 1930’s, when the time arrived when I was to go to Hebrew School, there were no Hebrew Schools per se in the Pimlico area. The closest was Isaac Davidson on Shirley Avenue. There were only individual Hebrew teachers, rebbes, and this is where I went. Mr. Rudnitzky was a Shochet, a ritual killer who slaughtered chickens and other fowls in the prescribed Kosher manner. He lived in a row house at the end of a street off Garrison Avenue about three blocks west of Park Heights Avenue. He had five other students, all boys about eight years old. We only learned to read Hebrew. We learned about holidays and other Jewish rituals and customs at home where they were practiced throughout the year. We also learned Jewish values from our parents and other family members. We students sat around his dining room table and read Hebrew from a Siddur, a prayer book. When a housewife appeared with a live chicken to be slaughtered, Mr. Rudnitzky donned a large rubber apron, waved his arms and said, “Lez, lez,” (read, read) and disappeared through the back door into the yard. We would hear a loud screech and Mr. Rudnitzky would reappear with blood and feathers clinging to his rubber apron.

When the time arrived for my Bar Mitzvah, I was sent to a Rabbi who taught the Haftorah. He lived on Classen Avenue, the street off Park Heights Avenue just before the Avalon movie theater. I was first taught the notes; the little sqiggles and lines and dots around the Hebrew letters. Once the notes were learned, any Haftorah could be chanted. The Bar Mitzvah boy (there was no such thing as a Bat Mitzvah for girls) was taught only the Haftorah, not the Torah portion or the prayers. I cannot remember a “lavish Kiddush” after the service; probably herring, kichlas and whiskey for the men.

My Father insisted that I go to Hebrew College located on Eutaw Place and Preston Street in a converted mansion. I hated it. I did not have the basic background knowledge; I could translate very few Hebrew words. It was frustrating, and when my grades were very poor (as opposed to A’s at Poly) my father realized that Kenny would never become a Talmud Chochon (wise student of the Talmud). I lasted less than a year.

My father realized the lack of a Hebrew School in the Pimlico area and he was later instrumental in the establishment of a Hebrew School affiliated with the Petach Tikvah Congregation.

Life Decisions

It is 1945 and there were some life decisions to be made. There were those of us who had been in the military service for as much as five years. We were in our early to mid-twenties. A grateful government helped us to implement, not make those decisions, with the GI Bill. Four years of college tuition and books plus a monthly stipend were provided to those who wanted a college education. Assistance in purchasing a home was available. Compensation was available for those who wanted to work but could not find a job. Some just wanted just to lay back and do nothing now. All of us wanted to get on with our lives. A chunk of our lives had been spent in the military service and we wanted to make up for that time in a big hurry. My decision was to accept the college tuition and get the degree in as short a period as possible. And while doing this, there was an opportunity to live the college campus life; parties, athletics, etc. I definitely knew that I did not want to return to Pharmacy School. At this age and with my experiences during the past two years, I was able to resist my Father and make my own decision as to my future. Johns Hopkins University was the best college in the Baltimore area and this would allow me to live at home. In 1945, there was no pressure on young adults to “get your own place.” Economics interested me so I enrolled in the School of Business with a major in accounting. This was a wise move in that it gave me the knowledge to make good financial decisions throughout my life.

Few high school graduates at age eighteen are equipped to make decisions affecting their path for the rest of their lives. And this is not a bad thing. Many are pressured by parents and end up changing careers in midlife. Many “fall into something.” I could no find a suitable job in 1949 (we were in the midst of a recession) so we bought the store. My experience working in supermarkets prior to 1942 and my financial education were vital to the success of the store. When I got involved in politics, I “fell into” a job with the State of Maryland which lasted for 25 years. And when I was required to make legal decisions, I took a few law courses which led to a law degree and a member of the Maryland Bar. For some of us, we make that life decision early in life. We know that from childhood, we want to be a doctor or a dentist or whatever. But most of us are guided by circumstance to become what we ultimately become. We “fall into” something. We find a job because we know someone who knows someone who has an uncle who owns a business and is looking for an employee. And it turns out to be our life’s vocation. Think about your present job and your interests. You probably “fell into it” and it may turn out to be your life’s vocation.

Education

Jews are known as “People of the Book,” loosely translated as favoring study and education. And William Golberg was fully a Jew in this respect. Although his formal education consisted of night school to learn to read, write and speak English upon his arrival in the United States in 1914, he was determined to insure that his children were educated. This meant a college education for the boys and a high school education for the girls as was the custom in those days.

The language spoken at home was Yiddish; Russian among the adults when they did not want the children to know what was being said. When Kenneth was enrolled in kindergarten in 1930 at Arlington Elementary School #234 at Rogers and Magnolia Avenue, he could not speak English, only Yiddish. By the time he reached the first grade in 1931, he was fluent in English. He was a bright child and during his enrollment in elementary school, was advanced a half grade. He completed elementary school in February, 1937. He was sent to Junior High School #49 where the seventh, eighth and ninth grades were completed in two years. School #49 was located in a row building on Cathedral Street across from what is now the Meyerholl. It was probably and individual home. It consisted of a building of classrooms and an administrative office, a large cemented courtyard behind the school and a small gymnasium at the rear, fronting on Maryland Avenue. Other that the accelerated pace, Kenneth can remember that Latin was taught. He had no problem; learning came easy to him.

Kenneth wanted to go to City College where all the Jewish boys went. William insisted that he attend Baltimore Polytechnic Institute (Poly) and William was correct. Poly’s reputation was such that graduates of Poly’s A course were admitted to the second year of college. Kenneth was admitted to the B course because it was required that a student begin the A course in the ninth grade and Kenneth began Poly in the tenth grade having completed the ninth grade at School #49. Poly was located on North Avenue at Calvert Street. Kenneth was not quite fourteen years old when he began Poly in February, 1939, immature and small for a high school student. That and being Jewish, a very small group at Poly, made social action with other students non-existent. Kenneth graduated in February, 1942, not quite seventeen years old. As usual, everything came easily to him; there was no problem getting excellent grades. Poly was basically a school which prepared students for an engineering degree offering such subjects and steam, electricity, chemistry and calculus. William had made a good choice.

However, William’s choice of college was not a good one. William believed that a profession was the best choice for a career; medicine, dentistry, law or pharmacy. Pharmacy was the only one which did not require an advanced degree; so pharmacy was it!

Kenneth spent the period between February, 1942 and September, 1942 working full time as a meat cutter in a supermarket and saved enough to pay all expenses at the University of Maryland, School of Pharmacy located at Calvert and Greene Streets. He hated it! It was boring. He had studied all the required courses at Poly except Zoology. He was required to take Algebra, having taken, Geometry, Solid Geometry and Calculus at Poly. He joined a Jewish Pharmaceutical fraternity, Phi Alpha.

World War II was raging and Kenneth received notice that he was to be inducted in the Armed Forces shortly after he completed the first year of Pharmacy School in May, 1943. In July, 1943 he was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia for basic training. After basic training. He was assigned to the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) and sent to the University of Maine in December, 1943. (The ASTP was held in disdain by those enrolled in it. We sang, “Your son wants to fight for his country but first he must get his degree. So take down that service flag, mother, your son’s in the ASTP.”) Plans were being made for invasion of Europe and infantry soldiers were needed. The ASTP was disbanded and everyone was sent to Fort Jackson to be trained for the invasion in February, 1944. While on maneuvers in Tennessee shortly thereafter, Kenneth was injured severely enough to be given a medical discharge in August, 1945.

Among the benefits offered honorably discharged veterans by the G.I. Bill was a four year expense paid college education with a $90.00 per month stipend. William wanted Kenneth to return to Pharmacy school but with maturity and financial independence due to the G.I. Bill, Kenneth rebelled and enrolled at the Johns Hopkins University in September, 1945 majoring in Economics. A student was permitted to take as many credits as he wished; Kenneth graduated in February, 1948 with a Bachelors degree in Business. He could not join a fraternity at Johns Hopkins because the belonged to a fraternity at Pharmacy School and his fraternity did not have a chapter at Johns Hopkins. But he was welcome at the fraternity houses of Alpha Epsilon Phi and Phi Delta, the two Jewish fraternities at Johns Hopkins. It was at the AEPi house that he met his bashert, Marcie Hoffman.

Kenneth worked with the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. The hours were long because he commuted to work, by street car, train and bus. This was unsatisfactory in that he and Marcie became engaged in March, 1948. He had terminated this employment when they were married September 12, 1948. He had one additional year left under the G.I. Bill and when a suitable employment opportunity did not arise he went back to Johns Hopkins for a Masters degree in Marketing. The monthly government stipend was $105.00 monthly for married couples and Kenneth and Marcie managed.

At this point, Kenneth’s education was interrupted by the obligations imposed by a growing family. In 1965, Risa, the oldest child was sixteen and Amy, the youngest, was seven. Kenmar Food Market was well established and prospered. Kenneth took a job with the State of Maryland, Department of Labor and Industry. In November, 1965. By January, 1969 he was Chief, Employment Standards Service with a staff of thirty-five. Among his duties was the interpretation of the laws administered by the Service. His knowledge of law was non-existent. Marcie suggested that he enroll in law school and take a few courses to acquaint himself with enough law to adequately perform is duties. He enrolled at the University of Baltimore, School of Law in September, 1969 and took several courses at night. One course led to another and by 1975, he had amassed eighty credits, enough to graduate. In 1976, he took the Bar Exam and was sworn in as a member of the Maryland State Bar that year. His formal education was complete.

Subsequently, Kenneth continued his education at the School of Hard Knocks, whose colors are, not surprisingly, black and blue.