Obituaries are supported by a generous grant from Sinai Memorial Chapel.
Dr. Harvey Gotliffe
Jan. 22, 1936–Dec. 14, 2025
Dr. Harvey Gotliffe was a man of many words and worlds, a philosopher, thinker, writer and dreamer. Dr. Gotliffe founded the award-winning magazine journalism program at San Jose State University and contributed to major magazines, newspapers and publications. He wrote “My Father Was Born on Trafalgar Street,” created the Highway 17 Almanack, and shared humorous insights in his Ho-Ho-Kus Cogitator. His book “The Oy Way” wove a love of Yiddish, Tai Ji and Kibbitzing to the delight of many.
Dedicated to promoting tolerance and peace, Dr. Gotliffe brought Holocaust and Japanese internment camp survivors together to share stories and connection, and his research on the Holocaust is archived at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Dr. Gotliffe was a warm-hearted prankster, a counterculture racecar driver, a table tennis competitor, a mentor to many, and an adventurous, generous rebel of a mensch.
He will be missed by his wife Carmen Gotliffe, Daughter Amy Gotliffe, Sister Shirley Halprin, Nephews Rick, Brian and Dan Halprin and Gordon Eick, his many global relatives, friends, and students, but his inspiration will live on.
He passed on Dec. 14, 2025, and was 89 years old.
Edmund Green
March 31, 1930–Dec. 9, 2025
Edmund Green was born in San Francisco to Philip and Frances Green. Ed grew up in the Marina and was a proud graduate of Lowell High School and UC Berkeley where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Mu. After graduating from Cal, Ed worked as a CPA for over 75 years. In 1954 he met his wife, Deborah, on a blind date. They were married in 1956 and settled in San Francisco. They had two daughters, Diane and Suzanne. One of Ed’s greatest pleasures was spending holidays with his family and extended holiday family.
Ed served on the boards of the San Francisco Jewish Community Center, Brandeis-Hillel Day School and Congregation Sherith Israel.
Ed loved music. He had season tickets to the San Francisco Opera for over 50 years and was a long-time ticketholder to the San Francisco Symphony. Ed wrote an article on Edward Elgar’s “Enigma Variations,” which was published in the Elgar Society Journal.
Ed always was reading something, especially nonfiction, and often could be found reading in his garden, even if that meant wrapping himself in a parka. He was an avid traveler and will be remembered for eating ice cream throughout his travels. With his family and friends, he took yearly trips to Yosemite and, in later years, Lake Tahoe. Ed also loved taking walks around San Francisco, especially the Marina Green and Stow Lake.
Ed will be remembered as kind, thoughtful, intelligent, funny, and loving. He was a gentleman.
Ed is survived by his wife Deborah, daughter Diane, nephews Jeff Green (Annie) and Ron Green (Rebecca) as well as by grand- and great-grand nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his daughter Suzy and brother Zan. Funeral services were held on December 12, 2025. Donations may be made to Congregation Sherith Israel or UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Ruby Beth Hertz
July 11, 1937–Dec. 6, 2025
Ruby was born in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to Berkeley, California, with her parents when she was 14 years old and attended Berkeley High School.
The family moved to San Francisco and opened Sis Teen, a girls clothing store in Laurel Heights. Ruby graduated from Lowell High School and earned her bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley. She was briefly married to Ed Lapedis. After her divorce she moved to Berkeley and lived with her grandfather Nahum Seitzick while pursuing her master’s degree from Berkeley.
At Berkeley she encountered Seymour Hertz who she had dated as a teenager, and through him met his brother Gerald. Gerald and Ruby were married on Sept. 1, 1963, and at her passing they had been married for 62 years, 3 months and 5 days.
Ruby continued her education at Berkeley where she earned her doctorate in criminology. She began her career working in Richmond and at the Marin Civic Center. She worked for a public policy firm in Sacramento helping to write juvenile justice legislation for the State of Missouri. She taught criminology classes at Golden Gate, Ohlone, Merritt and Cal State Hayward.
During her education Ruby acquired the most wonderful of all dogs, Oliver Twist von Duvan. Because of Oliver, she founded a breeding business, RBeth German Shepherds. She took Oliver into the Union Square stores and to Gerald’s San Francisco bar when he was out of town. Oliver was always a perfect gentleman and protected Ruby. Ruby remained friendly with those who received a pup from her. One client told Ruby it was harder to adopt a dog from her than to adopt their children. Breeding German Shepherd dogs and the friendships she formed doing so brought much love into her life.
Among the most fierce friendships she formed by those adopting her pups were with Pat, Maggi, Barbara and Cherie. These friends were with her daily following her diagnosis and during the last two months of her life.
Ruby also became an AKC dog show judge traveling around the country with Gerald at her side. She judged the Herding Group, half of the Working Group and half of the Sporting Group. During those travels Ruby met and became friendly with other judges and dog club members.
Ruby died peacefully at home with love and caring all around her. She will be sorely missed by her husband Gerald and his children Howard (Karen), Ned (Dana), Steven (Toya) and Cherilyn (Steve).
Donations in Ruby’s honor can be made to Temple Beth Abraham to the Herman Hertz Israel Scholarship Fund or the Mollie Hertz Interfaith Outreach Fund.
Marion Lee (Leone) Hirschberger Purcell
Feb. 10, 1929–Dec. 25, 2025
Born in Bad Kreuznach, Germany, on February 10, 1929. In 1936, her mother, Gertrude, and father, Robert, made an informed decision to leave Germany and immigrated to Mandatory Palestine. They settled in Bethlehem and then Tel Aviv where they lived until 1946 when she and her mother immigrated to America.
In 1948, during a weekend ski trip while lodging at the Cal Alumni lodge at Soda Springs, she met Dr. Lawrence Purcell, her future husband of more than 50 years.
Marion had many loving friends, volunteered for several organizations, was an active skier and tennis player into her 80s and spent time every day in the outdoors until she was in her 90s. She regularly played mahjong with her friends who she met through the Temple Sinai women’s group and Hadassah, and continued to the end with wonderful support from her hiking group friends, most of whom were 10 to 15 years younger.
She is survived by their two children, Leslie and Brian, and four grandchildren, David, Leahna, Rachael and Jocie. We are left with great memories of her and of decades of family trips to the Caribbean, Mexico and beyond. Thank you mom, grammy, grandma, our family queen. Your life is honored as a life well lived.
A celebration of her life is scheduled for Feb. 22, 2026, at 1 p.m. at the Home of Eternity Cemetery Chapel, 5000 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, CA.
Maureen Roskoph
Nov. 27, 1939–Dec. 21, 2025
Maureen F. Roskoph, a longtime resident of Palo Alto, CA, passed away peacefully on Dec. 21, 2025, with her husband of 63 years, Paul, at her bedside.
Maureen, born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1939, was the only child of Stanley Fromkes and Lillian Fromkes. She attended Cleveland Heights High School and received her Bachelor of Arts degree at the Ohio State University, where she met her husband-to-be at the end of her sophomore year. They married during Paul’s senior year of law school and resided in Columbus, then Highland Park, Illinois, while Paul completed his stint in the U.S. Army. After a short return to Cleveland, they settled in Palo Alto where they resided during the remainder of her lifetime.
Their marriage produced two wonderful children, Robert Roskoph (Lauren) and Julie Roskoph Mell, and five adoring grandchildren: Adin, Myles and Shayna Roskoph and Lillian and McKenzie Mell. Maureen excelled as a wife, mother, grandmother, teacher, friend, organizer, hostess, advisor, cuddler of infants at Stanford Children’s Hospital, volunteer and board member of numerous organizations. She was loving and beloved. Her smile, charm and heart attracted people as honey attracts bees, and she was the glue to her large family of cousins. Maureen loved life, people and most of all her family. At the birth of her first grandchild, she made a weekly round trip drive to Davis, California, to bond. The same was true with all the grandchildren — but she was fortunate to have all grandchildren live in the area to allow her to nurture and be the beneficiaries of her smile, joy, travel adventures and love. And her homemade cookies were always out for the kids and their friends. Her house was the stopover on the way home from school.
Maureen started her post-college work as an elementary school teacher, took time off to be a devoted mother while the children were in grade school, then found herself loving to share the day at the Stanford University Blood Bank, initially as a recruiter of blood donors, then gaining prominence as the coordinator of volunteers for the Blood Bank. She solicited and obtained weekly donations from merchants for movies for the lengthy apheresis procedure that would take two hours, as well as muffins, cookies, candies and goodies after blood donations. Maureen also volunteered weekly in the Children’s Hospital gift shop inventorying and stocking the candy, which was constantly flying off the shelves. This led to a weekly Monday night out dinner with Paul and friends who shared the activity. This led to yet another association with Stanford that continued for over 20 years — meeting or housing post-graduate foreign students seeking Ph.D. degrees or graduate degrees, most often from Korea, but spanning the globe from Australia, South Africa, Italy and France. These relationships continue to this day as the “American Mom.”
She was an active board member at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills and the Stanford Children’s Hospital Development Office. She and a neighbor she met through AAUW formed a six-couple duplicate bridge group that continued for over 50 years. Maureen thrived on being busy and entertaining. She and Paul hosted a Rosh Hashanah afternoon potluck for 70 people in their backyard annually for over 30 years — after preparing dinner for 12 on Erev Rosh Hashanah. It was her joy.
Maureen is survived by her entire family and her brother-in-law Donald Roskoph (Marlene) and their two children and four grandchildren.
A private service was held on Dec. 23 and a public celebration of life will be held in February.
The family is appreciative of the loving care of Betzabe, Marina, a host of caring caregivers spearheaded by Adele and Vitas Hospice. Donations in Maureen’s memory may be made to a charity of choice or the Stanford Children’s Hospital Development, 400 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301.
Daniel Irving Rubin
May 16, 1960–Dec. 4, 2025
Daniel Irving Rubin, loving husband, devoted father, adoring grandfather, avid runner, loyal friend, trusted advisor, and lifelong learner, passed away peacefully on Dec. 4, 2025, surrounded by his family.
Daniel was born in Hollywood, California, on May 16, 1960 to the late Ira and Barbara Rubin. Daniel grew up in Manhattan Beach and spent his days doing his homework at the beach, collecting Boy Scout badges, and playing competitive badminton (including winning the 1978 Junior National Badminton Championship). He graduated Pomona College in 1982 with a bachelor’s degree in astrophysics. While at Pomona, he met Katharine, his wife of 39 years and the love of his life.
Dan and Katharine married in 1986 and continued to build a life and family together after moving to Silicon Valley. He started his long career in the semiconductor industry that took him up and down the valley and all over Asia.
Dan went on to found Artisan Components and was integral to its IPO in 1998, but never missed tucking in his kids or an important family moment. In his next chapter, Dan became a General Partner at Alloy Ventures, where he excelled in advising entrepreneurs and always asking “the right questions.”
Dan found it important to give back to the Jewish community through involvement in local Jewish non-profits. He first joined the board of Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School, where he helped establish their current campus and then joined the board of his synagogue, Congregation Beth Am, where he could often be seen doing his favorite job – greeting members and newcomers at High Holiday services. Finally, Dan spent treasured years on the board of the Shalom Hartman Institute, an organization dedicated to fostering pluralistic Jewish education.
When Dan was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma in 2017, he made it his motto to “run towards it” and attacked every round of chemo like it was a mile of a marathon. He wore his “Boston Marathon 2016 Finisher” hat to every treatment as a constant reminder of his motto. In the eight years he lived with cancer, Dan defied the odds with over 70 rounds of chemo, more than 30 rounds of radiation, six surgeries, and three clinical trials. He never let his illness slow him down, continuing to travel to 10 more countries (59 total countries and 49 states in his lifetime!), reaching a 2,085-day streak for Hebrew study on the LingQ app, and even running his lifetime marathon personal record in between treatments.
Through his discipline, drive, and the incredible care of Dr. Kristen Ganjoo, he lived to see all his kids graduate from college and grad school, dance at both his daughters’ weddings, and watch his granddaughter Kit take her first steps in his house. He lived as he died, surrounded by those he loved and those that loved him, and the world will miss him dearly.
He is survived by his wife, Katharine; his children, Caroline (Stephen), Hannah (Kate), and Sam; his granddaughter, Kit; his sister, Regina; his brother, Paul, and the many friends that loved him.
To honor Dan, please consider making a donation to the Shalom Hartman Institute or Stanford Medicine Giving – Dr. Kristen Ganjoo Sarcoma Research Fund. But, most importantly, reach out to someone you haven’t spoken to in a while; go on a run in a new place and strike up a conversation; ask about the life story of your cab driver or tour guide while traveling. He would be honored to know his memory supported deepening relationships and making the world a more connected and welcoming place.
Donald Ungar
Aug. 29, 1926–Dec. 9, 2025
Donald Leonard Ungar passed away on Dec. 9 at age 99, with his family around him. Don was born in San Francisco on Aug. 29, 1926. He was the beloved son of Kate and Reuben Ungar, and brother to Mildred Wandel, who predeceased him. His wife of 31 years, Carol Waller Ungar, passed away in 1988.
Don is survived by his wife of 34 years, Susan Romer; his sons, Michael, Kenneth, and Mark; daughters-in-law Lisa Spiegel and Ava Vedres Ungar; son-in-law Robert Bomersbach; stepdaughters Lee and Lauren Kaplan; grandchildren Rachel, Jason, Kayla, Daniel, Alex, Dylan, Kate, Carly, and Shira; and great-grandchildren, Hayden and Noah.
Don grew up in San Francisco, where he attended Mission High School. After serving in the U.S. Army in World War II, he attended UC Berkeley. After several years as a journalist in Washington, D.C., where he covered many historical post-war events, he returned to San Francisco to attend law school. He then joined an immigration law firm, where he worked tirelessly for immigrants and refugees from around the world. Among his many impactful cases was on behalf of World War II Filipino veterans, which took him to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Among Don’s many wonderful qualities was an infectious sense of humor; an encyclopedic range of knowledge, from history to sports; and an incredibly high level of empathy, which brought great support and comfort to everyone around him. His greatest love was cooking for and traveling with his grandchildren.
Don will be buried at Salem Memorial Park in Colma, CA. In remembrance of his remarkable life, donations can be made to the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ilrc.org) and to the New Israel Fund (nif.org).
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