Alfred Barnston, a Texas-born rabbi turned San Francisco stockbroker-executive, never lost touch with his Lone Star roots.
Up until his recent death of a heart attack at age 80, Barnston joined his daughter Stephanie Koutsaftis for twice-weekly equestrian jaunts in Novato.
“He was incredibly active,” Koutsaftis said of her father, who died in Santa Barbara Dec. 9 while visiting another daughter for Chanukah. “He was like a 30-year-old.”
But horseback riding was only one of a panoply of activities that kept Barnston busy. He collected stamps, particularly enjoying Israeli and United Nations editions. “He was a great golfer, deadly on the green,” according to one of his co-workers.
In addition, he served on the executive committee of the San Francisco Boys and Girls Club and chaired the finance committee of the San Francisco Rotary Foundation.
All this time, Barnston worked nearly full time as first vice president of investments for the San Francisco brokerage firm Sutro & Co., with which he was affiliated for decades.
Through it all, the member of San Francisco’s Congregation Emanu-El regularly performed rabbinical duties such as weddings and funerals. “He loved being a rabbi to the business community,” said Emanu-El’s Rabbi Stephen Pearce.
Pearce, a friend of Barnston’s, described the octogenarian rabbi as “very affable, a lovely man. He was a straight-shooter. He told you what was on his mind.”
A native of Houston, Barnston received a bachelor’s degree from that city’s Rice University. The son and grandson of rabbis, he received a rabbinical degree from Hebrew Union College and began his service as a rabbi in Louisville, Ky., in 1943. He served in the chaplaincy of the Navy and Marine Corps in World War II.
In 1950, after holding a pulpit at Union Temple of Brooklyn, Barnston joined the research staff at New York’s Loeb Rhodes & Co. The next year, he joined the research department of Sutro & Co. in San Francisco and in 1956 became a partner in the firm.
Sam Yates, senior vice president of investments at Sutro, describes Barnston as a venerable and beloved member of the Sutro team, known for his quick wit and solid advice.
“I think all the younger brokers looked to him from time to time when things were getting rough,” Yates said. “He would generally say, `The market will be here tomorrow. Don’t you worry.'”
Barnston is survived by a brother, Jack Barnston of New Haven, Conn., and a sister, Vivian Wright of Blue River, Ore. He has two daughters, Stephanie Koutsaftis of Mill Valley and Diana “Susy” McKenna of Santa Barbara. He is also survived by two grandsons, Mark Gomez and Charles McKenna.
A memorial service was held Tuesday at Congregation Emanu-El. Donations can be made to the San Francisco Boys and Girls Club, 1950 Page St., San Francisco, CA 94117.