Gene Friend liked to get right to the matter at hand.
“It was always a challenge to make sure one was communicating clearly and had done their homework before meeting with him,” said Nate Levine, executive director of the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco. “He liked to get right to the heart of the matter. People like that make organizations like the JCC better.”
Friend, whose support of the JCCSF is evident by its Eugene and Elinor Friend Center for the Arts, died June 26 in San Francisco. He was 88.
Friend was born to immigrants from Poland and Russia on Aug. 16, 1916 at Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco. He grew up in the Tenderloin, attended Lowell High School and worked his way through U.C. Berkeley, helping out in the family hat business.
After finishing college, he began a clothing business with his parents, Howard’s Clothing. During that time he began dealing in real estate. Over the years, Howard’s Clothing grew into Howard Properties, Inc.
In 1940, he married Elinor Hirschberg.
“He was a guy that always wanted to help others,” said his son Don Friend of San Francisco. “He just always saw and felt a need to help people that could use help.” At the same time, he could be very demanding, and always wanted to get to the point quickly, said his son.
For almost 25 years, Friend was on the board of the S.F.-based Koret Foundation, serving as its vice chairman for many years. He had met Joe Koret in the clothing business. Friend was vice chairman when he died.
“Gene worked tirelessly in close association with President Tad Taube to develop a dual nature of the foundation to provide for both the Jewish and general communities,” said Jeff Farber, the Koret Foundation’s executive director.
He also served as president of the local chapter of American Friends of Hebrew University, and on the boards of the Jewish Home for the Aged and Mount Zion Hospital.
According to Jerry Levine, the retired longtime director of the Jewish Home for the Aged, Friend was one of a handful of highly influential people in the Jewish community that was always consulted. He worked behind the scenes to get things done.
“There are certain key people in the community that you discuss the project with, and if they agree, you go ahead,” said Levine. “I never went ahead with a project unless I had discussed it with him. Gene was not an easy person, but he asked very good questions and had a very good Jewish heart.
“If he believed in a project, he would be very helpful, but if he didn’t, forget it.”
Because of Friend’s leadership, the Koret Center for skilled nursing was built at the Jewish Home in the 1980s, and in the following decade, the Howard A. Friedman Building was constructed.
He was also a supporter of American Friends of the Hebrew University. “Gene cared deeply about Israel and was tremendously helpful in furthering American Friends of the Hebrew University,” said Leonard Cohn, a past regional president of AFHU. “You could count on Gene’s presence at every meeting and event. He will be missed for his loyal support and generosity.”
As for the JCCSF, “Friend was a generous donor to the JCCSF, supporting the whole concept of us trying to build an important cultural and community institution,” said Levine, remarking that Friend passed that on to his two sons, Bob and Don, both of whom serve on the JCCSF’s board. “Gene was just a very generous man. He cut through a lot of the fog and mist.”
Don Friend called his father a “great [role] model of involvement.” He said, “Part of what makes things work is to give back and make sure that the community is healthy. He taught us how to make things a better world for everyone else.”
Friend was just as involved in civic affairs. Together with Morris “Mo” Bernstein and Harry Berman, the three made up the city’s “Jewish mafia,” that advised various political candidates on any number of subjects, including how to get elected.
“They had real influence in the city,” said Don Friend. “They always used that influence for good things, and helped get a lot of good things accomplished.”
Friend served as commissioner of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, and as commissioner of the Parking Authority. He was also a supporter of such institutions as the San Francisco Zoo.
In addition to his son Don Friend, Friend is survived by his wife, Elinor, of San Francisco; son Bob Friend of San Francisco; and four grandchildren.
Donations can be made to the Maybeck Foundation, Campaign to Restore the Palace of Fine Arts, 3200 Washington St., S.F., CA 94115 or the Jewish Home for the Aged, 302 Silver Ave., S.F., CA 94112.