Mark J. Greenberg
Mark Greenberg passed away on April 19 at the age of 94. Born in Boston on October 15, 1930, he grew up in the Dorchester section of the city, son of Ruth and Jack and brother of Gloria. He was a proud alumnus of Boston Latin School and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. While stationed in Rochester, NY in the Air Force, he met Norma Fishman. Mark and Norma lived in Newton nearly all of their married life and there raised three children, Susan, Richard, and Louis. On April 17, Mark and Norma celebrated an incredible 70th wedding anniversary.
Mark was a devoted husband and father, and grandfather to Sam, Eliza, and Harry. He loved all kinds of card and word games, playing and watching sports, planning road trips to beautiful places in New England and beyond, and taking frequent trips to Ogunquit beach in Maine, a tradition his parents began when he was a child. After retirement he and Norma travelled extensively in the U.S. and Europe, and spent winter months in Sarasota, Florida.
Mark had a remarkable memory and capacity for mastering complex subjects. This served him well in his long and successful career in the field of accounting, working for several corporations before concluding his career with Ernst and Young as a nationally recognized expert in government accounting practices and regulation.
Mark had a natural gift for making people feel comfortable, and all enjoyed his company. He made many friends in his community and workplace and maintained those friendships for decades. In his later years, he combined his love of challenging games and what he might call “kibbitzing” by becoming a regular bridge player with several groups. For both his skill and camaraderie, he was in great demand as a player.
Mark took great joy – and sometimes heartache – as a passionate fan of all the Boston sports teams. His greatest love was the Boston Celtics, for which he had season tickets in some of the Bob Cousy and Bill Russell years, and to which he brought Norma and his children to hundreds of games across championship eras, creating lasting family memories. He attended the 1967 Red Sox World Series and the famous Game 6 of the 1975 World Series and watched or listened to most of the Patriots game since their founding. But as passionate as he was to see Boston teams victorious, in the end it was always good sportsmanship and the fun of competition that mattered most to Mark.