Travel agent recalled for creativity, passion for industry

For over 50 years, Action Travel Center co-founder Arlene Goldberg solidified herself as a trailblazer in the travel industry and as a dedicated community leader.

On March 17 – only two months after her retirement – Goldberg died at the age of 86.

Her journey into the travel business began in 1973 when she took a part-time job at a travel agency, Stacey Silver, one of Goldberg’s four daughters, told the Cleveland Jewish News. She quickly realized her passion for helping others explore the world, and around 1980, she opened Action Travel Center in Solon.

“She loved to make trips for people,” Silver, a Mayfield Heights resident, said. “My mom was such a creative person, she was personally creative and that creativity was carried through to her being a travel agent for people because she loved to create trips for people, and she was a perfectionist – she wanted to make sure everything was perfect.”

While Goldberg was not a very religious or observant person, she was certainly Jewish and in every way felt like a Jewish woman, daughter Sherri Katz of Solon told the CJN.

Over the years, she became a well-known figure in Cleveland’s travel community, hosting and producing “Travel Talk” on radio stations WERE and WHK, organizing travel for WJW television personalities, and becoming a regular guest on WKYC’s “Good Company,” where she shared travel insights for nearly two decades, the CJN previously reported. She also wrote a monthly travel column for the CJN.

Goldberg’s dedication to her work extended beyond business – her clients were like family, Goldberg’s daughter, Ivy Goldberg-Rogers, told the CJN.

“Her clients loved her,” Goldberg Rogers, a Mentor resident, said. “She loved to plan the trips like they were her own and would welcome them home and they would share photos with her or bring her little souvenirs that she would keep displayed in her office and then her home.”

Goldberg was recognized for her contributions to the business community when Action Travel was named business of the year by the Solon Chamber of Commerce in 2012, according to her obituary. There was a conference room at the agency’s office – filled with her awards – before they downsized due to the COVID-19 pandemic and had to take them home, Goldberg-Rogers said.

“She couldn’t part with them and she was just very proud of them,” she said. “When (she) would meet a client, (she would) bring them into this room and say, ‘Look at what I’ve accomplished.’”

When Goldberg stepped down from her role at the agency in late January, Goldberg-Rogers took over as vice president of operations, and Lori Skillicorn, another daughter, became CEO. They’ve both been with the company for a large part of their lives, they said.

Katz said her mother’s creativity was evident in everything she did.

Goldberg’s impact reached beyond the travel industry, her daughters said. In the early years of her marriage with the late David Goldberg, she was actively involved in B’nai B’rith Women, serving as chapter president and district board member.

“When she was in B’nai B’rith, it was the beginning of her outlet for her creativity,” Katz said. “It gave her a place to make her good ideas come into (fruition).”

She organized events like the Magic Carpet Festival, a community event inspired by themes of adventure and discovery, Katz said.

“It was beyond what anybody could ever imagine,” Katz said. “... She did everything from the marketing to the organizing to getting donations to getting all of the women to be happy to volunteer to work this carnival, and it was a huge, huge success.”

Despite her dedication to her career, Goldberg was just as devoted to her family.

“She was always thinking about her girls,” Silver said. “She thought about her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren. ...

She wanted the best for all of us. She was so thoughtful. She never forgot a birthday, or an anniversary, or a graduation, or anything.”

Even in the face of illness, Goldberg maintained her characteristic optimism, Katz said.

“No matter what the situation was, even when she faced just the worst parts of her illness and treatment, she’d say, ‘You know, I can still think. I still have my brain. My body isn’t doing so good, but I can still think, and it could always be worse.’ It didn’t matter what it was.”

Goldberg leaves behind a legacy of hard work and dedication and also “taught us all how to persevere through difficult business ebbs and flows and to be good businesswomen,” Goldberg-Rogers said.

Funeral services were held March 21 at Berkowitz-Kumin-Bookatz Memorial Chapel in Cleveland Heights. Interment was at Zion Memorial Park in Bedford Heights.

Goldberg is survived by her daughters, Sherri (the late Jonathan) Katz, Stacey (Andrew) Silver, Lori (Frank) Skillicorn and Ivy Rogers (Mark Mcintosh); granddaughters, Samara Katz (Adam Kordower), Risa Katz, Lindsay Silver (Matt) Stahm, Jessica Silver (Nick) Younker, Danielle Silver, Heather Skillicorn (Jeremy Smith), Rachel Skillicorn (Jason) Flynn and Hayley Rogers (Matt Marynik); great-grandchildren, Lily Flynn, Charles Flynn and Eli Jordan Stahm; brothers, Stan (the late Jackie) Mesnick and Richard Mesnick (the late Ted Garfield).

Contributions can be made to the American Cancer Society (cancer.org) in Goldberg’s memory.