Steven M. Goldblatt

Steve died on February 7 in Seattle, WA. He was born on January 24, 1950 in Sacramento, CA, to Walter and Shirley (Marcus) Goldblatt. After graduating from Del Campo High in 1967, he attended UC Berkeley (Go, Bears!), where he earned a BSEE and was Sports Editor of the Daily Cal. He worked as an engineer at the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, then Pacific Gas & Electric in San Francisco. While working full time, he earned a JD from Golden Gate Law and became a member of the California State Bar in 1977.

In 1980 he met his future wife Joan Leventhal at a Cal Alumni function. They moved to Indiana where Steve was an Assistant Professor of Construction Management at Purdue University.

In 1982 Steve and Joan married and relocated to Seattle, and Steve began his 27-year career at the University of Washington as Department Chair of Building Construction, in the College of Architecture and Urban Planning (later named Construction Management, College of Built Environments). While at UW, Steve was Associate Dean for external affairs; he also represented the Faculty Senate in Olympia and served as Chair of FCUFS. Nationally, he served as President of the Associated Schools of Construction. Steve retired from UW as Associate Professor Emeritus. Steve and Joan were devoted Husky and Cal football season ticket holders and enjoyed traveling to away games.

While teaching and after retirement, Steve arbitrated, mediated, and consulted on over 100 public works projects in Washington State (including renovation or new construction of public schools, UW student residences, King Street Station, Seattle’s Central Library, Safeco Field, City Hall, and Pike Place Market). He especially enjoyed crossing paths with his former students.

An active volunteer, Steve was a founding member of Sound Transit’s Citizen Oversight Panel, co-chair of the King County Commission on Governance, and a member of two Seattle Public Schools capital levy oversight committees (Building Excellence; Buildings, Technology and Academics). He was a long-time member and former Board member of Temple de Hirsch Sinai.

Steve lived with heart and kidney disease, and was grateful for a kidney transplant he received in January 2021. The highlight of his life was being a dad to daughter Sarah and a grandfather to his cherished grandsons, Oliver and Archer. Steve loved his life, family, friends, and work.

Survived by his wife Joan, with whom he looked forward to celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary in June; daughter Sarah and son-in-law Chris Emerson of Seattle; grandsons Oliver and Archer; sister Barbara (Mark) Youngdahl of San Jose, CA; brother Gary Goldblatt of Lodi, CA; brother Ken (Mary Anne) Goldblatt of Union, WA; and niece Robyn Goldblatt of Bozeman, MT. A celebration of Steve’s life will be held at a future date. Donations in Steve’s memory may be made to the University of California Berkeley or the University of Washington.

Stories, memories, and appreciation of Steve’s life are welcome at his CaringBridge site: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/stevegoldblatt/