F. Carl Grumet

A longtime resident of Stanford, F. Carl Grumet, M.D., died on July 11, 2015 at home at the age of 77 from lymphoma.

Carl was born in New York City, New York, on Oct. 12, 1937 to the late Rebecca and Louis Grumet. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Rhoda Burns Grumet; daughters Amy Connolly (John) of Palo Alto, Jill Lauren of Scotts Valley, and Nancy Prouty (Devin) of Menlo Park; brother George Grumet (Barbara) of Edison, New Jersey; brothers-in-law Rob Burns (Lynda) of Piermont, New York, and Douglas Burns (Ellen)of New York City; nine grandchildren, Zachary and Jeremy Rosenbaum, Taylor and Sydney Ginieczki, Caleb and Abby Prouty, and Mark, Ahna and Elena Connolly; and many loving nieces and nephews.

Carl graduated from Rutgers University (’59 Physics B.S.), Columbia University (’62 Physics M.S.) and the University of Pennsylvania (’65 Medicine M.D.). As a Professor of Pathology at Stanford University School of Medicine, Carl was the Founding Director of Stanford’s Blood Center, Tissue Typing Lab and Transfusion Service and honoree of departmental-named lecture series. He co-authored medical publications that significantly affected national transfusion practices, served on NIH and FDA advisory committees; served on national committees of medical professional associations setting standards in transfusion and tissue typing, established and directed the Stanford University Blood Center, and was a member of NIH’s U.S.-Russian Scientific Exchange program and a consultant for the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Carl contributed to improving safety of transfused blood (e.g., testing for HIV, CMV, hepatitis), improved compatibility testing in transplantation, helped establish national registries for unrelated marrow donors, contributed to understanding mechanisms underlying genetic control of disease susceptibility, and defined the molecular biology and immune functions of the HLA system.

Carl was a devoted and loving husband, father, grandfather and brother. His greatest joy was spending time with his family, and he embraced the time with his precious grandchildren. In addition to family, Carl found love and support from his community of friends. He was an active member at Congregation Beth Jacob in Redwood City and a member of Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills. Carl was a strong supporter and advocate of Israel and Jewish causes including Hadassah and American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

An accomplished yet humble man, Carl was a role model for both family and friends. His easy laugh and sense of humor will be greatly missed. He lived his life with grace, integrity and dignity.

Funeral services were held on July 14 at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills with burial at Skylawn Memorial Park, San Mateo.

Memorial contributions to Sequoia Chapter of Hadassah, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto, CA 94303; American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) (www.aipac.org/act/donate); Congregation Beth Am, 26790 Arastradero Road, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022; or Congregation Beth Jacob, 1550 Alameda de las Pulgas, Redwood City, CA 94061 are preferred.

Sinai Memorial Chapel

(650) 369-3636

Dr. Robert A. Mendle

Nov. 16, 1917–July 5, 2015

Dr. Robert A. Mendle, family doctor, world traveler, teacher, lover of the great outdoors, and official birdwatcher passed away peacefully in his home on July 5. Born November 16, 1917, Dr. Mendle lived an incredibly full life. He was a San Francisco native and resided in the Richmond District almost the entirety of his life.

Dr. Mendle was blessed to meet his wife of 74 years, Barbara Paula Murphy, in the founding class of Presidio Middle School. Dr. Mendle and Barbara married in 1941 and a few years later bought their house that they have lived in for 65 years on 29th Avenue. In 1947 they welcomed their son, Robert, and had many wonderful family years together. Every night he and his wife enjoyed the tradition of having a drink before dinner (for him a Gibson with a twist, for her a V.O. on ice) while playing cribbage before having dinner, or before socializing with friends, watching Giants games, attending the symphony or spending nights out enjoying the city that they loved so well.

Dr. Mendle and Barbara, along with their son, friends or family, had the great pleasure of traveling the world, making numerous trips exploring almost every continent. Dr. Mendle had especially fond memories of his time spent in Europe, most notably the years he was stationed in Berlin, Germany, with his family, as a physician for the Army. In addition, he had a deep appreciation of exploring the great outdoors here in the States. He and his family spent many weekends hiking on Mt. Tamalpais in Marin County, exploring Yosemite and the Sierra foothills, and spending summer weeks in the small town of Graeagle, where he hiked, swam, fished, golfed, biked, and spent many hours birdwatching.

Dr. Mendle attended Lowell High School in San Francisco, attended U.C. Berkeley and went on to medical school, where he graduated in 1941, as one of the last groups of doctors to be trained as physicians before the antibiotic era. Dr. Mendle loved practicing medicine and had a deep respect for science. He also had a great connection with his patients, and often made house calls to patients who were unable to come into his office. As his wife Barbara said, “Bob was dearly loved by his patients. He was the epitome of what one would expect a good all around doctor to be.”

Dr. Mendle practiced as a general practitioner for over 50 years, with some time spent doing surgery. He was very pleased to share his medical office in the heart of the city on Sutter Street with his son, Bob, who also became a physician. Together they shared many years treating the diverse and lively community of San Francisco, and partnered with Mt. Zion and UCSF where Dr. Mendle also mentored many young medical residents and new doctors. Dr. Mendle used his great love of science and nature to be a docent at the Academy of Sciences after retiring from medicine at the age of 85. He never tired of learning or teaching; in fact, he thrived on doing so.

Dr. Mendle had an incredible memory and loved sharing stories of his rich life experiences, especially over a good meal, while golfing, or playing cards. He enjoyed food with gusto, frequenting the city’s many local restaurants where he became a regular, often enjoying sushi lunches with his colleagues or dim sum with his wife and son, and later with his son’s family, his grandchildren, cousins and even later in life, his great-granddaughters. Never did he miss a perfect opportunity to tell a funny joke. He had a great sense of humor, which helped him connect with so many different people, friends and family and his patients.

Dr. Mendle will always be remembered as a great teacher, an enthusiastic conversationalist, a family man and loving husband, father, grandfather and uncle and a man of great character. Dr. Mendle will be dearly missed and always remembered by his community and his family. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Mendle; his grandson, Max Mendle; his granddaughter, Simcha Mendle and her daughters; his great-granddaughters, Amaya and Solana; his grandchildren’s mother, Cathi Mendle (Karen Johnson); his niece, Marilyn Guerin (Tom); his nephew Bruce Mendle (Ranji) and his children Aaron, Andrew and Amanda; and his nephew Gilad Hirschberger (Naama and children); many cousins, and devoted friend, Dr. Arthur Lyons.

Dr. Mendle’s memorial service will be held at Temple Emanu-El, where he and his wife have been members since 1954 and attended services and life celebrations throughout their lives.

The memorial service will be held at noon Sunday, July 19 in the Martin Meyer Sanctuary, with a reception to follow in the adjoining room. Please attend and honor Dr. Mendle with your memories and stories, of which he was always so very fond.

Zan Meyer

Zan Meyer, a longtime resident of San Francisco, passed away at her home on July 8, 2015. She is survived by her husband of 50 years, Henry Meyer; daughter and son-in-law Michele and Leif Jacobson; grandchildren Alexandra and Andrew; and numerous cousins.

Donations in her memory may be sent to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place SW, Washington, DC 20024-2126.

Sinai Memorial Chapel

(415) 921-3636

Esther Meshul Trigger

An East Bay resident for more than half a century, Esther spent her final year in Honolulu, Hawaii, where she passed away peacefully in her sleep at age 92 on Sunday, June 14.

Esther was the beloved wife of Kenneth Trigger for 69 years; the loving mother of Minette (Isac), Victor (Suzette), Jeff (Kathy), and Jack (Jenny); the adoring grandmother of eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; and a cherished aunt for many nieces and nephews.

Esther was born in a small village near Pinsk, Poland, in the spring of 1923. The youngest of four Meshul children, she immigrated to Chicago with her family at age 9. The Meshuls moved to Los Angeles, where Esther became the first in the family to attend college, graduating from UCLA with a teaching credential. At a USO event, she met Ken, also from Chicago, and they were married in 1946.

Esther taught elementary school while starting a family with Ken as he earned his Ph.D. at Stanford and began a career in nuclear physics. In 1958, Ken and Esther brought their four young children to Livermore, where they became engaged citizens in the small but growing community. They were one of nine couples that founded the Livermore Valley’s first Jewish organization, Congregation Beth Emek. Esther served as president of the sisterhood, ran Sunday school classes, and started the temple’s Israeli dance group. With a friend, she opened Livermore’s first used clothing store, Ye Royal Exchange. She was also an active member of the Valley Democratic Club.

In 1986, Ken and Esther moved to Walnut Creek, where they won many local bridge tournaments. Esther enjoyed playing tennis and she was active in the Contra Costa chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women. She enjoyed two different Great Books groups, traveling to the Ashland Oregon Shakespeare Festival annually, and discussing the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Dao De Jing, and the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber. Esther and Ken took their hybrid car on many cross-country trips, visiting family in Texas and attending the National Storytelling Festival in Tennessee.

Esther’s family remembers her lively energy and love for learning, her home-cooked dinners, with heaping bowls of matzah ball soup and endless trays of cookies; her impromptu stories, which were both funny and thoughtful; and the love and attention she showed to everyone she met. Her favorite holiday was Passover, a time large meals were preceded by active discussions about the meaning of freedom and concluded with rousing songs.

Memorial services will be held at 3 p.m. this Sunday, July 19 at Temple Isaiah, 945 Risa Road, Lafayette.