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Edwin Cohen

Resident of Rossmoor, Walnut Creek

Feb. 2, 1931–Nov. 10, 2017

Edwin Cohen passed away on Friday, Nov. 10, after a several-month battle with multiple illnesses. He touched many lives through teaching both in and out of the classroom. Ed was an inspirational role model for his two children and five grandchildren.

Born in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, Ed moved to Atlantic City, N.J., with his parents and then to Los Angeles when he was 17. He earned his AA from El Camino College, his BA and MA from CSU, Long Beach, and then his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in Speech Communication. In between his AA and BA, Ed proudly served in the United States Army and traveled abroad, entertaining with the USO show.

He taught in high schools and colleges for 42 years before he and his wife, Shirley, retired to the adult community of Rossmoor in Walnut Creek. He wrote and published six nonfiction academic books, one book of poetry, two full-length plays and seven articles in academic journals. During the last part of his career, Ed lectured on cruise ships, enabling him and Shirley to visit many exciting places around the world.

Ed is survived by his devoted and loving wife, Shirley; two children, Lisa Cohen Bennett of Richmond, California, and David Cohen (Laureen) of Oakland, California; and five grandchildren: Gabrielle Cohen, Jacob Cohen, Noah Bennett, Alexandra Bennett and Martin Cohen.

The family suggests that donations in Ed’s memory be made to St. Jude’s, Mazon, the Weizmann Institute of Science (through the American Committee for the Weizmann Institute of Science), or a charity of your choice.

The funeral was held on Nov. 14 at Oakmont Cemetery in Lafayette. Family is observing shiva, which will conclude with the last two minyanim on Saturday, Nov. 18 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 19 from 4 to 7 p.m.

(Sinai Lafayette)

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Dorothy G. Feiler

March 16, 1920–Sept. 12, 2017

Dorothy was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Mandel and Ann Goodman. She lived her first 14 years in the beautiful small town of Waconia. It had several churches, one large lake with an island in the center, and two dry-goods stores. Her family owned one of the stores. They were the only Jewish family in town and often spent the Jewish holidays and summertime with family in Minneapolis. After her father died in 1934, Dorothy, her younger brother, Miles, and her mother all moved to Minneapolis to be near cousins and grandparents. This was the early part of the Great Depression and times were very difficult for the family.

While attending high school in Minneapolis, Dorothy worked part-time to help out. Her future husband, Jerry, was two years older and lived in the same apartment building. It was not until after he had enlisted in World War II and was stationed in Southern California that he began to miss her and proposed. They were married in 1943 in Hollywood before he returned to his unit at Torrey Pines, near San Diego. Their son was born a few years later and Jerry was discharged from the U.S. Army at Ft. Douglas, Utah. He was a licensed optometrist and was able to get a job there soon after discharge in 1946.

The family stayed in Utah, where Jerry died in 1980. Dorothy became an active part of the community for more than 60 years. She lived, worked, volunteered and made many friends in Utah. Dorothy moved to Oakland in 2009. To be near her son and daughter-in-law and their family, she moved to a high-rise senior community in Oakland, where Dorothy continued to be active and made many friends over nine years there.

She is survived by her son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter (and her family), her brother and family. Dorothy was exceptionally proud of her two granddaughters and often played basketball and softball with them. She was deeply affected by the death of her 22-year-old granddaughter, Rebecca. She was, however, enthralled by the birth of her two great-grandsons, who are 3 and 7.

Burial was at the SLC Jewish Cemetery (B’nai Israel) next to her husband, daughter, mother, and in-laws. Contributions can be made to Hadassah (hadassah.org) or American Jewish World Service (ajws.org).

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Alexander (Al) Heller of San Mateo, California, passed peacefully on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017, surrounded by his family. He was 92 years old.

Al is survived by his wife, Elaine Carstens Heller, after 67 years of marriage; their four children, Gregory Heller, Robin Heller Liffmann, Vanessa Heller Watt and Clayton Heller; daughter and sons-in-law Jeffrey Watt, Michael Liffmann and Karen Kramer Heller; and grandchildren and spouses Ian, Chad and Grant Liffmann, Andrew and Asher Watt, Jenny Heller, Deborah Steinberg and Ashley Curren.

Al, the son of Samuel and Bessie Heller, was born in Chicago on Aug. 30, 1925, the youngest of eight children. He joined the ROTC in high school, attended Purdue University, then joined the Marine Corps as a 2nd Lieutenant. He trained in Quantico, Virginia, and Fort Lejeune, South Carolina, before being stationed at Camp Pendleton, California, where he trained for the invasion of Japan in World War II.

After the Marine Corps, Al finished his degree in business administration at the University of California, Berkeley. After graduating in 1946, he settled in San Francisco, working at Pollak’s Company for his brother-in-law Harry Pollak. After Harry’s death, Al became president of Pollak’s until his retirement. Al and Elaine moved to Palm Desert soon afterward, becoming involved in many activities and enjoying spending time with their many friends. Nine years ago they moved back to the Bay Area, settling into the Peninsula Regent in San Mateo.

Al was an avid sailor, racing his 37’ sloop with his family and winning the Yankee Cup in the S.F. championship regatta in 1976. He also enjoyed fencing, boxing, softball, table tennis, camping and RVing. Al was very fond of his German shepherd and Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs, winning first place in a regional dog show with his ridgeback Tombi of Bulawayo.

A memorial service will be held at the Peninsula Regent in San Mateo at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 19 in the penthouse community room, followed by a reception in the first-floor bistro. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Redwood Empire Food Bank in Santa Rosa.

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Stefanie Jagoda passed away from a long battle with cancer. But ultimately she could not fight anymore.

She was born in Berlin, Germany on March 21, 1930 and passed away on Nov. 11, 2017 at the age of 87.

She dabbled in real estate and loved family, friends and traveling.

She is survived by the love of her life, Otto Jagoda. She leaves three children: Terri Yarkin, Harold Jagoda and Steve Jagoda; their spouses Mark Yarkin, Tuija Jagoda and Cheryl Jagoda; grandchildren Brent and Jessica, Justin and Hannah, David and Kristin, Daniel and Alice, Jacob, Zachary, and Hannah; and four great-grandchildren Anthony, Lillian, Lucas and Callie.

A memorial service will be held at Congregation Beth Chaim on Sunday, Nov. 19 at noon.

The family would welcome donations in Stefanie’s memory to the American Cancer Society.

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Dr. Stanley Laurence Kampner, M.D.

Born on Nov. 7, 1935 in Detroit, Michigan

Passed away on Oct. 31, 2017 in San Mateo

Dr. Kampner was predeceased by his mother, Rose Kampner, and his father, Morris “Moe” Kampner.

Dr. Kampner attended the University of California, San Francisco, medical school, specializing in orthopedic surgery. He served as a doctor in the U.S. Armed Forces in Vietnam.

He invented several highly successful orthopedic implants, including a constrained prosthetic knee. Dr. Kampner was one of the most respected orthopedic surgeons in California. With a partner, he had the largest orthopedic practice in Northern California.

He was a major and much-beloved benefactor to the Lisa Kampner Hebrew Academy in San Francisco for over 15 years. His generosity provided scholarships for over 1,500 students, many of them Russian Jewish emigrés.

Thanks to his generosity, Lisa Kampner Hebrew Academy students acquired not only a rigorous secular education, but a deep understanding and commitment to Torah and Israel. Graduates went on to prestigious yeshivas in Israel and the United States as well as to leading colleges and universities such as Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Princeton and the University of California, Berkeley.

To express gratitude and recognition for his generous gifts, the school was renamed Lisa Kampner Hebrew Academy in honor of his late daughter, Lisa, an alumna of the Hebrew Academy, who tragically passed away when she was in her 30s.

Dr. Kampner had a deep commitment to the Jewish people and to the State of Israel. For many summers he worked as a volunteer doctor at Hadassah Hospital, Ein Kerem, Israel.

Services were held on Nov. 6, followed by burial at Eternal Home Cemetery, Colma.

(Sinai SF)

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Dr. Leslie Preger

June 23 1926 – October 30, 2017

Dr. Leslie Preger passed away on October 30, 2017 at the age of 91 at his home in San Francisco. Born Lazarus Preger in Manchester, England, the son of Harry and Berta Preger, he will be dearly missed by all who loved and knew him.

Dr. Preger had a distinguished career in the medical field, dating back to his initial training beginning in 1948 at the Manchester (England) Medical School. His Residency training in 1960 to 1964 at Harbor General Hospital in Torrance, California and the University of California San Francisco was the beginning of his deep fondness for California and San Francisco. After his Residencies, he returned to London to practice General Medicine in London at Hammersmith Hospital and Calcutta, India.

After returning to the U.S. in 1966, Dr. Preger became one of the world’s leading experts and educators in the field of radiology. He served as an Assistant Professor of Radiology at the V.A. Hospital, as well as the UC San Francisco and UC Davis Medical Schools. Afterwards, he was Chief of Radiology at Highland Hospital in Oakland, California. Dr. Preger gave many public lectures and authored numerous professional papers and textbooks in his field.

Dr. Preger was extremely proud of his military service, both in the British Army and the U.S. Army.  The United States twice awarded him the Army Achievement Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal three times.

Leslie loved the outdoors.  He belonged to the Sierra Club as well as several other Bay Area hiking clubs. His favorite location was Mt. Tamalpais, where a bench in his honor will be placed alongside the Matt Davies Trail.

Dr. Preger is survived by his longtime partner Charlene Asher, her children Anne and Brian, and Brian’s children Carly and Ian. Always devoted to his family, Leslie is also survived by his brother Jack Preger, sister Anita Preger Woolf, and cousins Elaine Marcus, Jeffrey Snyder, Ruthie Mandel, Louis Mandel, Nora Frankel, Marianne Keller, as well as their children and grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, we ask for loved ones to send donations to the following organizations: P E F Israel Endowment Funds Inc. 630 Third Avenue, Floor 15, New York, NY 10017; Congregation Ner Tamid, 1250 Quintara Street, San Francisco, CA 94116; Friends Of Israel Disabled Veterans Inc. Beit Halochem, 1133 Broadway, Suite 232 New York, NY 10010.

Memorial Service arrangements are pending.

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William Utzig passed away on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. He left behind many dear friends. May he rest in peace.