Gary David Friedman

March 8. 1934 - July 18. 2020

Gary Friedman, MD, MS, had a deeply satisfying career as a medical research scientist, which began in the U.S. Public Health Service. In 1968, he became a senior epidemiologist at the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research, where he was one of the first researchers to conduct extensive epidemiological studies in the setting of a health maintenance organization. Gary was appointed its assistant director for epidemiology and biostatistics, and served as its director from 1991 to 1998. He served as president of the American Epidemiological Society from 1999-2000, and in 2000, was awarded a Distinguished Service Award from the University of Chicago’s Medical and Biological Sciences Alumni Association. His scientific publications number over 300.

In Gary’s long career in medicine, he had the privilege and pleasure of working with many talented colleagues. He enjoyed his role as mentor, and became a consulting professor at the Department of Health Research and Policy of the Stanford University School of Medicine.

In midlife, Gary returned to a lifelong passion for classical music, and at the age of 50 began taking oboe lessons, the beginning of a decades-long creative journey during which he practiced and performed with several local chamber groups and community orchestras. Soon, he started writing, performing, and publishing his own chamber music. He particularly liked the sound of the English horn, and it was featured in his favorite pieces.

Gary Friedman leaves his beloved wife Ruth Helen Friedman, daughter Emily Faxon and her partner John Turmes, sons Justin Friedman and his wife Anil, Rick Friedman and his wife Donna, and his grandchildren Sophie, Nate, Lily, Defne, Brett, Michelle, and Will, as well as many friends who treasured his kindness, generosity, and good humor. A memorial gathering will be held at a later date. Please consider a contribution in his memory to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, or the San Francisco Symphony.