Katherine Goldstein, Highland Park parade victim, remembered as a devoted mother, bird lover

Katherine Goldstein, 64, of Highland Park, was among those who were killed during a mass shooting at the suburban Fourth of July parade.

By Elvia Malagón | Chicago Sun-Times
Dozens of mourners gather for a vigil near Central Avenue and St Johns Avenue in downtown Highland Park on Tuesday
Dozens of mourners gather for a vigil near Central Avenue and St Johns Avenue in downtown Highland Park on Tuesday, a day after a gunman killed seven people and wounded dozens more by firing a semi-automatic rifle from a rooftop on a crowd attending Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade. Ashlee Rezin / Chicago Sun-Times
Dozens of mourners gather for a vigil near Central Avenue and St Johns Avenue in downtown Highland Park on Tuesday
Dozens of mourners gather for a vigil near Central Avenue and St Johns Avenue in downtown Highland Park on Tuesday, a day after a gunman killed seven people and wounded dozens more by firing a semi-automatic rifle from a rooftop on a crowd attending Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade. Ashlee Rezin / Chicago Sun-Times

Katherine Goldstein, Highland Park parade victim, remembered as a devoted mother, bird lover

Katherine Goldstein, 64, of Highland Park, was among those who were killed during a mass shooting at the suburban Fourth of July parade.

By Elvia Malagón | Chicago Sun-Times
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Katherine Goldstein, one of the seven people killed when a gunman fired down from a rooftop at people attending Highland Park’s Fourth of July parade, was a loving mother and friend and avid bird-watcher, her friend Jill Kirshenbaum said Wednesday.

Kirshenbaum said she got to know Mrs. Goldstein, 64, while their daughters were in middle school in Highland Park.

They got to know each other on an overnight trip for a STEM-related activity their daughters participated in.

Kirshenbaum said Mrs. Goldstein talked about how much she loved birds and the bird-watching trips that her family would take.

“She was a bird lover,” said Kirshenbaum, who called her friend “the kindest, sweetest.”

Mrs. Goldstein’s family didn’t want to comment Wednesday.

Kirshenbaum said she knew Mrs. Goldstein as a mother and wants people to remember how much she cared about her children and “how much she cared about their future. How much she wanted them to succeed. How much she believed in them. She really loved her family.”

Elvia Malagón’s reporting on social justice and income inequality is made possible by a grant from The Chicago Community Trust.