Anita Lois (Goldberg) Kasle

On Monday, March 29, 2021, Mrs. Anita Lois Kasle, regal and entrepreneurial ahead of her
time, steadfast wife, mother of three, grandmother of five and great grandmother of six, passed
away peacefully in her home amongst loved ones at the age of 91.
Anita was born on October 30, 1929 in New Bedford, Massachusetts to the late Myer Aaron
Goldberg and Ethel (Margolis) Goldberg. Her mother, a revolutionary of the Greatest
Generation, was a hard-working and successful jewelry business owner named “The Silver
Lady.” Her greatness is to be found in her dutiful service and witnessed in her willing sacrifice
which was praised and mirrored by Anita. Anita also often spoke of her father, a Harvard
educated attorney, who she recalled would practice for trials in front of the bathroom mirror at
home.
Anita was raised in a Jewish home on the East Coast, the eldest of three daughters. Her
grandparents emigrated from Russian Poland settlements - where Jews were “permitted to live”
- just before the turn of the 20th century. Anita was a great admirer and grateful for her parents
and their role modeling. Her parents were as “crazy about each other” as Herb and Anita. As a
child, she was given piano lessons from the age of 3, so it can be said that she played for
almost a century! The piano was the center of many engagements hosted by Anita and where
she would play with and for her grandchildren.
In the 1940s, Anita was a student assistant at University of Missouri, where she still exclaimed
she could not believe her parents let her go. Herb sat a few rows away from her at a lecture and
after countless proposals on campus, she agreed to go on a date with him. She said she was
lucky she did and that he was the best man and husband, one of a kind. Her mother was “crazy
about him.”
Anita graduated from Keuka College, a private school in New York, with a degree in Journalism
in 1948. She furthered her collegiate education at University of Missouri and Butler University in
Indianapolis. She went on to become a model, fashion consultant, fashion director, store owner
(Nita-Joi Present, Inc., Zionsville, Indiana, 1972-1973), fashion show coordinator and
commentator and executive on corporate and non-corporate boards including the National
Speakers Association, National Professional Saleswomen and International Platform
Association. In her roles she traveled worldwide, one of her favorite destinations and
fascinations being Hong Kong. Among her achievements were being listed in Marquis Who's
Who and, she would say, raising her family together with Herb. Anita never missed an
opportunity to share that each daughter, grandchild and great grandchild was an achiever in
their own right.
Anita married Herb on September 3, 1950, in her hometown of New Bedford. They raised three
daughters, Marlene (Gary) Cohen, Wendy Truesdell and Nancy Kasle, in Indianapolis. She was
preceded in death by her husband, parents and younger sisters Bernice and Gladys. She is
survived by her daughters, grandchildren: Lindsay (Mark) Goffman, David (Natalie) Truesdell,
Dr. Risa (Tom) Davidson, Jae (Marek) Szeszycki-Truesdell and Raechel Ball; and great
grandchildren: Oliver and Madeline Goffman, Rory and Lilian Truesdell and Mila and Gavin
Davidson.
Arrangements were entrusted to Indiana Funeral Care and interment of both Anita and Herb’s
ashes will take place together at Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation Cemetery North with the
support of Aaron-Ruben-Nelson Mortuary. A traditional and private graveside service will occur
at that time.
Herb and Anita were civic leaders and very active in the arts community including service to the
Indianapolis Hebrew Congregation, Civic Theater, Indianapolis Museum of Art, the Children's
Museum of Indianapolis, Butler Ballet, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Eiteljorg Museum,
Hadassah, Indianapolis 500, Dance Kaleidoscope, Indianapolis Opera Guild, Carmel Public
Libraries and the Beethoven Foundation. Memorial contributions may be made to any of these
organizations.