Obituaries are supported by a generous grant from Sinai Memorial Chapel.

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Marcia (Marcie) Faye Abend

Nov. 11, 1928–April 6, 2023

Marcia (Marcie) Faye Abend, 94, passed away on Thursday, April 6, peacefully at home with her family — Hugh, Rona and Jacob — by her side in Concord, California. She was born on Nov. 11, 1928 to Rebecca and William Weidler. Marcia grew up in San Francisco, graduating from George Washington High School, majoring in music and drama. She then attended City College of San Francisco, where she received an AA in drama. There she was a proud member of Delta Psi, where she made lifelong friends.

Upon graduation, Marcia worked at various jobs, such as KTVU, where she produced a TV show, an ad agency and San Francisco State in the office of Creative Arts Department. Upon marrying her husband, William, she helped him start and grow his architectural business and managed their properties.

Marcia served on various committees, such as the VP of the Commodore Sloat Parents/Faculty Board and Bay Area Confirmation Committee representing Congregation Sherith Israel. She was a proud member of the Bells, an auxiliary group for San Francisco’s Saint Mary’s Hospital, a member of Hadassah, and member of the Sisterhood at Sherith Israel, and the YMCA. She also was an avid supporter and activist of various local and national political campaigns.

Marcia was an avid reader and belonged to many book clubs, where she enjoyed trading books with family and friends. She also was a diehard Warriors, 49ers and Giants sports fan until the end. What she particularly enjoyed was going to the symphony, ballet and plays. Marcia and William went on many wonderful trips throughout the United States and Europe, meeting some incredible people.

Marcia is survived by her daughter Rona-Alyse Alison Abend Reynolds and son-in-law Hugh Oliver Reynolds of Concord, California, Wendee Lee Karp of Odgen, Utah; and her grandchildren. She was the sister of Julian Weidler (deceased) and Leona Weidler Spinrad (deceased). She is survived by many wonderful caring nieces, nephews, cousins and her wonderful caregiver, Sharon Lee.

A funeral service was to be held at Hills of Eternity Memorial Park, 1301 El Camino Real, Colma, California on Friday, April 14. Please make all donations to Sterne School, Jewish Home of San Francisco or Chabad of Concord.

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Michael Earl McGillis

April 5, 1953–April 5, 2023

Michael Earl McGillis passed away on his 70th birthday at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, California. He died of complications just before his birthday celebration with family that evening.

Mike was born on April 5, 1953 at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, California to Jean and Cal McGillis. The family of seven lived in Los Altos, CA, where Mike attended Santa Rita Elementary School, Egan Junior High School and Los Altos High School (’71). His bar mitzvah took place at Temple Beth Am in 1966, where his family were founding members. In high school, Mike was a star football player for the Los Altos Knights, earning multiple first-team all-league awards, and was selected as the California Central Coast Lineman of the Year during his senior year in 1970. He was captain of the team when they finished No. 1 in Santa Clara County. He was recruited to play on a scholarship for the University of California, Berkeley, and after two years at Cal, he transferred to complete the remainder of his college football career as a linebacker for San Diego State University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business.

Mike’s business career started off working for the McGillis family sporting goods business, Sunset Sports Center. He then went on to a successful sales career representing large sporting goods manufacturers before becoming an entrepreneur. In 1983, Mike started the active outdoor apparel company, White Sierra, which was successfully sold in 1996, and later on started several other small businesses throughout his career.

Through mutual friends, Mike met his first wife, Jeane Lewis, and they got married on July 26, 1980. They had four children, Matthew, Charlie, Rachel and Mitch, whom they raised together.

Mike was very involved in his children’s sports as they grew up, refereeing soccer games, coaching baseball and football teams, and cheering on swimming and water polo games. He instilled in them the love of athletics. Mike was so proud of his children, their accomplishments and growing families, and became a loving grandfather in 2021.

He met his current wife, Nancy Eiger, in 2017, and they enjoyed traveling to Israel together to visit family, watching sports and laughing together, and spending time with friends and family.

They got married and had a beautiful wedding just short of a year before his passing on April 9, 2022 at Tamarisk Country Club in Palm Desert, CA.

Mike had a great sense of humor, and loved making people laugh. He loved sports, gardening, fishing, cooking, and most of all his family and friends. He will be greatly missed by so many, and his legacy will live on through his loved ones.

Mike leaves behind his wife, Nancy Eiger; his children, Matthew McGillis, Charlie and Kim McGillis, Rachel and Emily Boone, and Mitch McGillis and Kalyn Nakano; his two granddaughters, Kaia McGillis and Lennon Boone, and a new grandson on the way; his mother, Jean McGillis; his siblings, Leslie and Bill Drake, Carrie Zaga, Gregg and Sally McGillis, and Marcie and Moshe Ora; and several cousins, nieces and nephews, and dear friends.

If you’d like to make a donation in Mike’s name, please donate to the Los Altos High School Athletic Boosters in support of all athletic teams at Los Altos High School.

Sinai Memorial
(415) 921-3636

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Marvin Pheffer

July 3, 1933–March 28, 2023

Marvin Pheffer passed away peacefully in his home after a long illness on Tuesday, March 28. He was 89 years old.

Marv was born on July 3, 1933 in the Bronx, New York, to his parents Charles and Ethel Pheffer. After graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Marine Corps, where he served for three years, from 1951-1954. He fought in the Korean War as a machine gunner, and spent 11 months in combat. As a veteran, he was a proud member of the Marine Corps League and participated in the creation of the Korean War Memorial in the San Francisco Presidio.

In 1955, Marv moved to Kansas City, MO, where he represented a pharmaceutical company over a five-state area in the Midwest. At age 26 he became the youngest sales manager in the company’s history and was an award-winning Dale Carnegie speaker, as well.

In 1963, he and his young family moved to the Bay Area to open a new territory and settled in San Rafael. In 1969, he pivoted into the financial service industry and founded his own brokerage company called Planned Investments, where he served as President and CEO, employing a team of 120 representatives. In 1989, he sold the company and remained on to run a division of the company until 2003, retiring fully in 2015.

During his career, Marv spoke at several conferences, was a guest columnist for the S.F. Business Journal, was featured on various TV and radio business programs, and was a keynote speaker at several financial conferences and seminars. In 1981 he co-authored a book titled “Shelter What You Make, Minimize the Take.”

A proud San Francisco resident since 1974, Marv volunteered often in his community. He served on the Civil Grand Jury from 1999 to 2000 and co- founded Friends of San Francisco Animal Care & Control, where he served as treasurer and fundraiser. He also enjoyed his service as a board member and finance committee chairman of the Italian cultural club Il Cenacolo.

Marv was a proud and active member in the S.F. Jewish community. He served as treasurer and investment committee chairman on the board of Congregation Beth Sholom, where he had been a congregant since 1977. He was also a member of the American Jewish Committee and served on their board of directors. He supported several Jewish organizations, such as Boys Town Jerusalem, Jewish War Veterans, ZOA and Birthright Israel.

Marv is survived by his beloved wife of 42 years, Noreen; his children Joe Pheffer and wife Susanna, David Pheffer, and Debi Geller and husband Ed; his step-daughters Cheryl Montelle and husband Brian, and Joy Goldberg and husband Bruce; along with his grandchildren Tina, Moriah, Jonathon, Avi, Gracie, Sophie and Lily.

Marv’s dedication to his family, intelligence, sense of humor and wit will be lovingly remembered and greatly missed by his family and friends.

The family will celebrate Marv’s life at a later date. Gifts in his memory can be made to Congregation Beth Sholom, the Marine Corps League, the Korean War Memorial and American Jewish Committee.

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Carol Joy Robinson

June 28, 1952-March 15, 2023

Carol Joy Robinson, age 70, resident of Alameda, California for 25 years, formerly of Chicago, Illinois; beloved wife of 50 years of Rabbi Arthur Gould; loving mother of Michalle Gould and Miriam (Walter Chang) Robinson Gould; adored grandmother (bubbe) of Yehudit Mouchan Chang; devoted daughter of the late Irma and Louis Robinson; cherished sister of Debbie (Robert Bernstein) Robinson; dear sister-in-law of Ruth (Lawrence) Kurlandsky and Shepard Gould; treasured aunt, cousin and friend to many.

Carol was an active member of Temple Beth Abraham, a Conservative congregation in Oakland. She received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Northwestern University and a master of science in industrial and environmental health at the University of Michigan.

Her life was distinguished by a long, successful career in health and safety, where she helped pave the way for other women in STEM careers. Equally important was her devotion to family, where she hosted holiday meals and enjoyed traveling on family vacations. She developed a passion for genealogy later in life and identified her family tree dating back generations, and then helped many others find theirs.

Carol was buried at Gan Shalom Cemetery in Briones, CA on Sunday, March 19, 2023.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Carol’s name may be made to the Lung Cancer Research Foundation.

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Rabbi Edward Zerin

May 5, 1920–March 28, 2023

Rabbi Edward Zerin was born in New York City on May 5, 1920 to Josef and Ida Zerinsky, and grew up in Wilmington, DE. Known to his family and friends as Ed, he gained much of his early interest in Judaism from his childhood teacher, Rabbi Simon Krinsky, whose influence led him to pursue the rabbinate. He graduated from the University of Delaware with a major in history and received his rabbinical training at the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, OH, where he was ordained in 1946.

Shortly after his ordination, Ed married Marjory Fisher of Miami Beach, FL and they moved to St. Louis, MO, where Ed had his first congregational posting. After they moved to Southern California in 1948, Ed and Marge’s first son, Jonathan, was born. Their family grew with the arrival of Wendy in 1950 and Jeffrey Michael in 1953. Shortly after their family was complete, Ed became the assistant rabbi at Temple Israel of Hollywood.

In 1953, Ed received his doctorate in Religious Education from the University of Southern California, and the family moved to Des Moines, IA, where Ed was the rabbi at Temple B’nai Jeshurun until 1966. While in Des Moines, he self-published “Living Judaism,” a groundbreaking religious-school curriculum for the Reform movement. He also taught religion at Drake University and Grinnell College.

After 12 years in Des Moines, Rabbi Zerin served with the American Jewish Committee in New York, and subsequently assumed the rabbinic post at Temple Beth El in Chappaqua, N.Y. From 1968 to 1972, Rabbi Zerin was a postdoctoral fellow studying philosophy of science at Boston University while serving concurrently as a congregational rabbi in Sharon, MA. In 1972, he and Marjory returned to Southern California, where he served as rabbi of Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks.

Ed’s lifelong passion for writing led to the publication of numerous books, including “Our Jewish Neighbors,” a manual on Judaism for non-Jews, and “The Birth of The Torah,” an archaeological and linguistic analysis of the origins and authorship of the Torah.

After many years serving as a congregational rabbi, Ed and Marjory made a career change to become licensed marriage and family counselors, opening the Westlake Center for Marital and Family Counseling. They co-authored “The Q Model for the Effective Management of Personal Stress,” which encapsulated their therapeutic approach.

In 2002, following the untimely death of his wife, Marjory, Ed renewed his acquaintanceship with Judith “Jill” Kneeter. In 2004, he moved to San Francisco and they were married. Although retired from both the rabbinate and from counseling, Ed continued his drive to write and publish. He edited a pictorial history of the San Francisco Jewish community, “Jewish San Francisco,” and translated and published a compilation of Yiddish poetry by his childhood teacher, Rabbi Simon Krinsky. Up to the time of his death, Rabbi Zerin continued to engage in numerous writing projects, including articles and translations of Yiddish Torah commentaries.

Ed is survived by his wife, Jill, son Jonathan (Ann) Zerin of Auburn, CA, daughter Dr. Wendy Zerin and partner Jon Becker of Boulder, CO, son Dr. Jeffrey Michael (Ruth) Zerin of West Bloomfield, MI, grandchildren Phoenix Zerin, Shuli Elisheva Zerin, Daniel Zerin, Elena Zerin and Max (Gabby) Mattisson, and great-grandchildren Rivka Zerin and Hailey, Eli and Everett Mattisson. The funeral was held on Monday, April 3 at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, where Ed was laid to rest next to his first wife, Marjory, and his mother, Ida. A memorial will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 30 at Temple Emanu-El,, 2 Lake St., San Francisco, 94118.

Donations in memory of Rabbi Zerin may be made to the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) (hias.org), or to a preferred charity.

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Clarice (Claire) Manber

Dec. 1, 1926–Feb. 28, 2023

Claire Manber, loving and devoted mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, passed away at the age of 96 on Feb. 28, 2023, surrounded by her family.

Besides her family, Judaism was always fundamental to Claire’s life. Some of her dearest memories were of attending synagogue as a child in New York with her father, celebrating Sukkot and Simchat Torah, and the Torahs being carried joyfully with the etrog and lulav. Dedicated to the Jewish community, she served as Peninsula president of JWV Auxiliary 688, was an active Hadassah member, treasured singing in the Ner Tamid and Jewish Home choirs, and loved cooking for Adath Israel events.

Claire was preceded in death by her husband, Hyman. She will be missed dearly by her daughters Barbara Eisenberg, Bev (Keith) Anderson and Michele Manber (Hugh Shipman), grandchildren Melissa (Greg) Lang, Mark (Tracey) Eisenberg and Devon Manber (Maria Alberts), great-grandson Coby Manber, and extensive mishpachah and friends across the globe.

Donations in Claire’s memory may be made to Congregation Adath Israel in San Francisco.

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Suzanne Noelle Price

Dec. 23, 1942–Nov. 22, 2022

Suzanne Noelle Price passed away peacefully on Nov. 22, 2022, at her home in Santa Rosa, CA at the age of 79. Suzanne was born in San Francisco to Myron and Beverly Price, on Dec. 23, 1942. “Suzie” as she was known to friends and family, spent most of her life a resident of her beloved city of San Francisco, attending Lowell High School (Class of 1960), the University of California at Berkeley, and San Francisco State University. Her professional career began at Macy’s, then continued in the apparel industry for many years, before she joined Eastman Kodak Company in the 1980s, and eventually retired from Wells Fargo Bank in 2014. Her colleagues remember her as a loyal advocate–fiercely protective, with a reliably mischievous sense of humor, and the ability to connect collaborators from all corners of her professional world.

Suzie was a proud member of her immediate and extended family; they were her guiding light, and the focus of her life’s attention. She was especially close to her mother, whom she spent many years living with, and caring for while in poor health. Suzanne was also a loving sister and aunt, and she adored children, doting on her young grandnephew, niece, nephews, and the children of her friends. Known to more than a few lucky kids as “Aunt Suzie”, she could always be relied upon to provide her full and enthusiastic attention at a moment’s notice, along with a warm smile, big hug, and undoubtedly some candy from her purse.

Suzanne was proud of her Jewish heritage, and was a longtime member of Congregation Sherith Israel in San Francisco. She was brought up conservatively in the 1950s, but she was eternally young at heart. She kept up with current events, and her philosophies toward history, justice, identity, politics, and religion evolved along with our times. She abhorred injustice and regularly donated to a number of human rights causes. She was deeply concerned about environmental peril, the rise of racism and antisemitism, and the future of women’s reproductive rights. She was a patriotic citizen, and loved both her country and her native city of San Francisco deeply.

Suzie had a wonderful and complex spirit, along with many talents. She possessed a quick wit, and an enviable memory. She baked incredible holiday cookies, and remembered everyone’s birthday. She gave the most thoughtful gifts. She excelled at Jeopardy, backgammon, and could wield a sharp tongue when the situation required. She loved Honolulu, and traveled there often with her mother and family. She spent many hours working on her needlepoint, making precious pieces for those she loved. She was a voracious reader, and an inveterate shopper, and always impeccably dressed for the occasion. At work, she was a tireless problem solver, and proud of her career. To strangers, she was friendly, and quick to strike up conversation with anyone she encountered. Completely at ease afoot, downtown in the bustling Embarcadero district, Suzanne made fast friends with baristas, bus drivers, and anyone who could keep up in conversation. She maintained friendships with people from all walks of life, from her classmates at Lowell, to her former colleagues, to the grocers and shopkeepers in Laurel Village and the Financial District. Suzie spent so much of her heart’s energy thinking of those she knew and loved; to be in Suzie’s good graces was to have a fiercely loyal ally and friend.

As Suzie’s health went through a series of unexpected challenges over the last decade, and she endured no small amount of discomfort and pain, she persevered with dignity and grace, and an indefatigable sense of humor and spark.

Suzanne is survived by her sister Nancy Bacall (George Bacall), niece Allison Bliss (Jeff Bliss), nephews Stephen Price (Lisel Ashlock) and Jonathan Price (Jacilyn Albert) and great nephews Leo Bliss and Louie Price. Her beloved brother, Michael Price (Gaetan Benson-Karr) passed away shortly after Suzanne’s passing. Suzanne is also survived by her dear family friends Wendy Harris Robinow, Dory Harris, and Jill Harris, and their entire families, whom she treasured as family of her own. Suzie’s extended family of friends stretched far and wide, and in truth she is survived by all those who appreciated her unique spirit.

To say Suzie will be missed is an understatement. She was an unforgettable soul, and her loss will be felt by so many. We will carry her spirit in our hearts, always. A service will be held at Hills of Eternity Memorial Park in Colma, CA on April 23 at 1:30pm. The family suggests donations in Suzie’s memory be made to KQED, Planned Parenthood, or The American Cancer Society, all organizations that Suzie supported in life.

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Charles W. Rummelsburg

April 2, 1925–March 22, 2023

Charles Wallace “Wally” Rummelsburg was a loving and devoted husband, recently preceded in death by his wife, Merilyn. He is survived by his sister, Helen Casriel; three children, Rodney (Rosalie Odell), Susan (Ron Williams) and Gary (Claudia Hamilton); and five grandchildren, Joshua Williams, Nathan Williams (Katherine Lanz), Rachel Williams, Michael Rummelsburg and Matthew Rummelsburg.

Married for over 70 years, Wally and Merilyn raised their family in San Francisco. There, Wally worked as a salesman, traveling throughout California for the GE Rummelsburg Company. He welcomed all to his home and was expert at being a San Francisco tour guide to guests from out of town. Wally and Merilyn enjoyed playing bridge with friends, ballroom dancing, and attending the theater and symphony. Upon his retirement, they traveled to over 50 countries and then moved to the Seattle area to be close to family.

Wally is remembered for his sense of humor, generosity, commitment to Israel and the Masons, and his love of friends and family.

Memories and condolences may be posted at dignitymemorial.com.