Daycation Destination: Retired surgeon finds passion with world's largest Cadillac Museum
A retired Brookville eye surgeon has one cool car collection — and it’s the world’s largest.
Dr. Steve Greenberg owns more than 80 meticulously restored Cadillacs, and he displays the shiny, sleek and sexy models in three separate indoor areas on the grounds of what was formerly a Cadillac dealership in Brookville, a borough in Jefferson County that’s about an hour and a half drive from Pittsburgh.
Greenberg and his wife, Deena, have been married for 58 years and moved there from Detroit in 1971 to accommodate his residency job requirements.
To make the trek, they needed new wheels.
“We needed a new car, and my family always owned Oldsmobiles. We went to look for a ’66 Oldsmobile convertible and that’s what I wanted. But they had a convertible Cadillac right next to it, for the same price of $1,500,” Steve Greenberg said.
But Deena wasn’t buying what Greenberg was selling at first.
“I didn’t want to drive around in that car. I thought it might be too showy. I was a teacher going to Head Start homes,” she said.
But she agreed the turquoise car was a keeper, so the couple bought it, only to have it stolen six months later.
Armed with the insurance money, the couple bought a replacement ’66 Cadillac convertible for the same price.
“Six months later, it was stolen,” Steve Greenberg said.
The second stolen car was recovered by the police and, in the meantime, the Greenbergs arrived in Brookville.
They’ve never left and proudly call Brookville home — as does the Greenberg Cadillac Museum.
“I felt like a millionaire, despite my then-current salary of $5,000 per year,” Steve Greenberg said. “The pride I felt was not my ownership of the Cadillac, but rather a patriotic pride in the beauty and mechanical excellence of the American product I was driving.
“I still feel that way.”
Steve Greenberg fell in love with cars as a youngster. A 1958 El Dorado was the first Cadillac that mesmerized him when he attended a Detroit-area car show with a relative.
“I was 13, and that was the inspirational vehicle,” Steve Greenberg said. “I wanted that car.”
He found his childhood dream car for $3,000 in northern Pennsylvania and promptly purchased it.
“It was a reward for all those late nights,” said Steve Greenberg, who helped to restore eyesight to tens of thousands of patients through his multicenter ophthalmology practice.
The museum serves as a treasure trove of memorabilia, Cadillac parts and engines and, of course, the cars, which Steve Greenberg has collected over the past 25 years.
Steve Greenberg, 80, can be found there most days, often at the ready to answer questions.
Volunteer Judie Wohnsiedler has been helping for years — but don’t ask her to sit inside the vehicles.
“I’m afraid to. I don’t want to damage them,” she said. “I’m a rarity. I don’t drive a Cadillac, but I just love greeting everyone and pointing out things I think people will like.”
She marveled at the big tourism factor the museum brings to small-town Brookville.
“I think it’s awesome. I call this ‘Booneyville,’ and it’s so hard to believe that in Booneyville we have this massive collection.”
Visitors are invited to peruse the Cadillacs with a self-guided tour.
“These were bought by wealthy people, and they didn’t get in with mud on their boots, ya know. I just like the looks of it. And the fins, the Cadillacs of the 1950s all had fins,” Steve Greenberg said.
Cadillac built World War II engines, and then designers added tail fins to Cadillacs, resembling at times an airplane.
Steve Greenberg’s collection spans more than 100 years of Cadillac trends, innovations and designs.
The oldest Cadillac on display is from 1903. Steve Greenberg decided to learn how to restore the cars after retiring 20 years ago.
“I was using my hands. I had these surgeon’s hands that needed something manually to do,” he said. “You have to just do something.”
Detailed descriptions are posted on each vehicle.
People sell their cars to Steve Greenberg for about $500. He then restores them to as close to their original glory as possible, a process that can take weeks or even months.
“It’s a final resting place for these Cadillacs,” he said.
The couple never had children, and Deena Greenberg is instrumental in all facets of museum operations. “I encourage it,” she said of her husband’s craze for Cadillacs.
Visitors have included car lovers from Kuwait, the Netherlands, Texas, Sweden, Germany and more.
The Greenbergs are not interested in making a profit from the museum and instead have always donated proceeds to the Jefferson County Historical Society.
David Taylor, board member of Jefferson County History Center, is appreciative of the unique attraction.
“It’s incredible and fabulous for Brookville. We’re so lucky to have folks like Steven and Deena to have this collection in a town of 3,900 people,” Taylor said.
For the Greenbergs, their loyalty to driving Cadillacs is steadfast.
“Nowadays, we’re all used to globalism in our purchases,” Steve Greenberg said. “But my sense of loyalty to our country and its economy has never waned. I’ve driven Cadillacs from that day to now.”
Joyce Hanz is a native of Charleston, S.C. and is a features reporter covering the Pittsburgh region. She majored in media arts and graduated from the University of South Carolina. She can be reached at jhanz@triblive.com
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