Bob Donaldson, Post-Gazette Marc A. Goldberg in his Schiller's Pharmacy at Walnut and South Aiken in Shadyside in January 1998. Click photo for larger image.

Marc A. Goldberg, an independent pharmacist whose personal style endeared him to customers, died Friday from complications related to a viral infection. He was 63.

Mr. Goldberg, who lived in Mt. Lebanon, grew up in Stanton Heights and attended Peabody High School.

Mr. Goldberg attended Duquesne University and in 1966, earned a bachelor's degree in pharmacy.

In 1963, Mr. Goldberg married JoAnn Maiolo of Mount Washington. The couple had two sons.

After working in several area pharmacies, Mr. Goldberg went into business with Jack London, becoming co-owner of several local drugstores, including Beverly Pharmacy in Mt. Lebanon, Schiller's in Shadyside and Sherman's in Munhall.

"Marc and I had a very fine relationship," said Mr. London, of Oakland. "I was like a father figure to him and he was like a son to me."

Mr. London said customers always came first with the partners.

"Our method was very customer-oriented," he said. "We had delivery services when the big chains didn't."

In 2003, Schiller's Pharmacy celebrated 100 years of business. The store, at South Aiken Avenue and Walnut Street, weathered every kind of economic climate and all sorts of trends. From the outside it looked ordinary, but the stream of sleek, stylish customers hinted at something more inside.

"We're a Madison Avenue pharmacy in Pittsburgh," Mr. Goldberg said in a 1998 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette interview. "People don't have to go to New York to get these things."

By "these thing," Mr. Goldberg meant an astonishing array of health and beauty products. Most were not available elsewhere in the city, and many of the European products were hard to find in any city besides New York and Los Angeles.

Customers flocked to the store to buy Elgydium whitening toothpaste, Dr. Hunter's old-fashioned tooth power and Radius toothbrushes.

The store also carried handmade English hairbrushes that retailed from $75 to $150.

Mr. Goldberg marvelled at the demand for $49.95 bottles of white truffle Philip B shampoo and Caldrea's citrus mint ylang ylang automatic dishwashing liquid at $16 for 32.5 fluid ounces.

The store also offered "preferred customer cards," that provided shoppers with occasional discounts.

"He really enjoyed the customers and the relationships he developed," said Mr. Goldberg's son, Joshua, of College Park, Md.

When Mr. Goldberg wasn't working, he enjoyed traveling and golfing.

In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Goldberg is survived by another son, Aaron M. of Mt. Lebanon, and a sister, Ann Izenson of Fox Chapel.

Visitation will be today from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Temple Emanuel, 1250 Bower Hill Road, Mt. Lebanon. Services will follow at Temple Emanuel, with interment in Mt. Lebanon Cemetery.