SHOHET, Stephen Byron MD
Stephen was born on November 29, 1934, to Harmon and Grace (Cohen) Shohet in Boston, MA and died on March 1, 2024, in San Francisco, after a fortunate and enthusiastic life.
Stephen was raised in Brookline with his older sister, Marcia. He graduated from Harvard college with a summa in English, after which, he embarked on a distinguished career in academic medicine, including medical school and residency at Harvard, a fellowship at the NIH and a first faculty job at Boston Children’s Hospital. In 1971, he moved the family to San Francisco, where he served as Chief of Hematology at UCSF, continuing his studies of red cell structure and biochemistry and teaching and mentoring a generation of medical students and hematology fellows, until his retirement in 2003.
Outside of the lab, Stephen worked unceasingly to satisfy an outsized curiosity, pursuing many interests with rare fervor and focus. He always leapt in with both feet. His curiosity about the genetics of tropical fish, while he was still in medical school, led to 52 tanks of guppies in the basement. Fascinated by boatbuilding, he constructed a 33-foot yawl in the family’s backyard, to the bemusement of his Bethesda neighbors. He later devoted almost a decade to building a 44-foot ketch, in which he sailed to the Galapagos Islands in 1987, to collect samples of sand lizard blood for evolutionary studies of red cell proteins. On the sail home, he lost power and was incommunicado for close to a month, while he navigated by sextant to the Marquesas Islands to repair his electronics. He was an omnivorous and knowledgeable collector, especially devoted to the acquisition and restoration of antique cameras. Each of his passions brought him into a community of fellow enthusiasts, which he fostered and appreciated.
The love of his life and inseparable partner in all of these endeavors was Geraldine (Poplack) Shohet, who predeceased him by seven months, after 67 years of marriage. He leaves his beloved sister, Marcia Zonis; four children, Ralph, Grace, Jason and Juliet; 12 grandchildren; a greatgrandson; and a legacy of striving to understand the world.