Dr. Paul Chodroff

Dr. Paul Chodroff passed away in his home after a long battle with cancer on October 1, 2021.

Born in New Jersey, Paul attended Weehawken High School, Tufts University, and Jefferson Medical School. He completed his internship and medical residency at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. At the end of his residency, Paul had the tremendous fortune to meet, fall in love with, and win the heart of the most beautiful, kind, and loving woman in the entire world, Brenda Lynne Block. Married on January 8, 1967, Paul and Brenda remained together for almost fifty years, until Brenda’s untimely death on August 29, 2016.

The couple first lived in Philadelphia, and then moved to the naval base in Charleston, South Carolina where Paul served at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina as assistant chief and chief of neurosurgery for the six naval districts from 19681970. They later moved to California when Brenda was nine months pregnant with their daughter, Carol. Paul set up his neurosurgical practice in Contra Costa County where he practiced active clinical neurosurgery until 1998 and continued as a neurosurgical consultant until 2013.

Paul had a tremendous career as a neurosurgeon and was highly regarded for the exceptional clinical care he provided his patients and their families. He was instrumental in the growth and development of medical care at John Muir and in Contra Costa. His pro bono work establishing injury prevention programs reached thousands of high school students.

The combination of Paul’s intellectual curiosity and creativity inspired him to invent medical devices that saved countless lives. He invented emergency medical equipment, the Max Cart, which was used across the world and in the White House. He designed critical neurosurgical instrumentation, now used worldwide, and developed two telemedicine programs – TENN (Telemedical Emergency Neurosurgical Network) and TeleVisit, both of which wound up in the Smithsonian. He was one of six nationwide finalists in the Health Care Division of the First National Information Infrastructure Awards; Paul treasured the memory of Surgeon General C. Everett Koop presenting him with his award.

Paul was also a gifted and effective teacher. He served on the clinical faculty at UCSF for 40 years as assistant clinical professor of neurosurgery, and he lectured extensively around the country and internationally.

Known and admired for his keen intellect, sharp wit, extraordinary memory, and attention to detail, Paul regaled friends and family with stories about the incredible experiences from his life, from performing delicate brain surgery under the most unusual circumstances to traveling beneath the ocean surface at the helm of a fully armed nuclear ballistic missile submarine. Paul also loved to entertain friends, loved ones, and occasionally unsuspecting audiences with his corny humor. His daughter’s high school friends nicknamed him “Cornball Paul” and the moniker stuck. His favorite title, however, was the one bestowed upon him later in life by his beloved granddaughter: “Pa.”

Paul’s deep love and devotion to family extended to the many friends, colleagues, patients, and family pets whose lives he touched. He loved sharing his passion for travel, nature, fishing, photography, cooking, wine, and the Golden State Warriors with everyone he loved.

Paul is survived by his daughter, Carol, his granddaughter, Kaia, as well as nephews, nieces, and devoted friends.

Per Paul’s wishes and his concern about keeping everyone safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, a celebration of Paul’s life will be held at a later time. In lieu of flowers, contributions in honor of Paul’s memory may be sent to Give One Dollar A Day – an organization dedicated to supporting families of children with terminal illness, started by his loving niece, Amy. https://www.giveonedollaraday.org/

Peter Francis Dunne III, 91, of Burlingame, CA died peacefully at home on Wednesday, October 13, 2021. Peter was the son of Arthur Bergin Dunne and Elizabeth MacArthur Dunne. His siblings included: Bergin Dunne (Eve Bordé), Elizabeth “Betsy” SkewesCox (Martin V.) and Robert MacArthur Dunne (Lynn Griffith). Peter was a proud fourth generation San Franciscan. He attended Grant Grammar School and was class of 1948 at The Thacher School in Ojai, CA. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1957 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, after serving several years in the Navy during the Korean War. Throughout his schooling, he made life-long friends; many of whom were a part of his Chi Phi fraternity days at Cal.

After graduation, Peter thoroughly enjoyed the social scene in San Francisco, and served as President of The Bachelors, a philanthropic organization. Peter relinquished the position upon marrying Kay Van Vliet in 1961. In 1966, Peter and Kay moved their young family to Burlingame where they spent the remainder of their lives. Kay predeceased Peter in 2016.

From an early age, Peter excelled in sports. He was particularly skilled at cross country running, baseball and tennis. But his true love was golf. He was an avid player, hardly missing a weekly round well into his 80’s at the San Francisco Golf Club and the Burlingame Country Club, and saw once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to play Augusta National Golf Club and the Old Course at St. Andrews.

Peter spent his career as an Electrical Engineer in

Silicon Valley – most notably at the Ampex Corporation where he worked on large format analog multitrack tape recorders, in support of large government contracts.

Though Peter was the quieter half in his marriage, he was known as a fun dinner partner, with a twinkle in his eye and a quick wit. His children remember him for always being there for them: running tennis drills, initiating fishing contests on the Truckee River, throwing a baseball on the front lawn, or demystifying high school physics. Peter’s mathematical mind made the Chronicle Sudoku puzzle a daily mustdo and his weekly dominoes game with his golf pals a highlight never to be missed.

Peter is survived by his three children: Elizabeth “Betsy” (Jack Bellotti), Peter (Debbie) and Samantha; his grandson Ian MacArthur Dunne; his brother Robert; and numerous Dunne and Skewes-Cox nephews and nieces. Peter also wishes to thank long-time housekeeper and friend Paca Trujillo for her help.

A private family service is planned for November. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Peter’s name to The Thacher School in Ojai, CA.