Harvey Schloss
November 12, 1943 – April 3, 2018
Harvey Schloss died unexpectedly on April 3 at the age of 74. Harvey was born in New York, the elder child of Harry and Betty Schloss. He met the love of his life, Andrea née Lazar, the summer before college while they worked at the same summer camp in Maine. Harvey graduated from the University of Rochester in 1965 with a A.B. in Political Science, and a week later Harvey and Andrea were married.
Harvey found his first jobs in publishing and also earned an M.A. in International Relations at New York University. The family moved frequently, back and forth between New York and California, until they settled in Palo Alto, CA in 1974. Harvey eventually moved into the world of finance. For 30 years he served in seniorlevel financial and operating positions with technology companies and professional service firms. He served as Vice President of Finance and Practice Management Systems at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, and as Chief Operating Officer, General Partner and Managing Director of Mayfield Fund.
During his working years, Harvey began to volunteer with a passion. He became very involved at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, eventually serving as their President and working in particular with social justice work and development. He later served as President for Jewish Family & Children’s Services of San Francisco and for Rhoda Goldman Plaza in San Francisco.
When Harvey retired, he continued to work by serving as Interim Executive Director for Rebuilding Together Peninsula, Palo Alto Art Center Foundation, and JW House - a hospitality house on the Kaiser campus in Santa Clara. He was President of the Eichler Swim & Tennis Club and also volunteered with a number of organizations such as the Scott Street Senior Housing Corporation, Environmental Volunteers, the Jewish Public Affairs Committee, and A Foundation Building Strength for Nemaline Myopathy.
Over the last four years, his passion has been to provide affordable, quality preschool education to all children 0-5 years old in the State of California. He coordinated hundreds of volunteers from Congregation Beth Am and other communities, in particular through Beth Am’s Equal Start ECE Initiative and its partnership with the Strong Start Coalition in Santa Clara County, the Child Care Partnership Council in San Mateo County, and Kidango. He built relationships with congress people and representatives through lobbying trips to Sacramento.
Harvey was known for his love of cycling. To celebrate his 74th birthday last winter, he and his friends rode 87 miles in the Bay Area hills. He also loved wine, coffee, and traveling, but his most important love was his family. He was close with his brother Marty and his sisterin-law Mady, of Brooklyn, New York. He was especially close and involved on a daily basis with his children, Janine and Larry, and daughter-in-law Joanna; and grandchildren Andrew, Rachel, Kaelyn, Aaron, and Ilana – of Seattle and Palo Alto. He is also survived by his beloved Andrea, his wife of 52 years.
The funeral will take place at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills on Thursday at 10 am, with the burial following at Hills of Eternity in Colma. Donations are welcome to Congregation Beth Am or Jewish Family & Children’s Services’ Schloss Family Endowment Fund.