Elwood "Bud" Greist

Dr. Elwood "Bud" Greist Resident of Livermore Dr Elwood "Bud" Greist passed onto his next great adventure in the early morning hours of November 24, 2010, finally succumbing to injuries suffered 4 months earlier in a tractor accident while working his beloved Shadow Hills Vineyard. Bud was born July 11, 1923 to Maude Adams and Elwood Greist (Sr.) in Tucson, Arizona. A man of many passions, automobiles were top on the list. Bud acquired his first "car" - a kiddie-sized play vehicle - at 2 years of age and thus began his lifelong passion for automobiles. Numerous autos ("classics" as he called them) in various states of mobility adorned his ranch during his prime years of restoring the vehicles to former glory, but his true loves were the early auto beauties of the 1930's. His prized possessions were Cord and Auburn classics, which he restored true to the minutest detail of historical accuracy in parts and colors. His 1933 Auburn won "Best of Show" at the Silverado Car Meet in Napa and his 1937 Cord won the "People's Choice" award at the Pebble Beach Concours, personally selected by Ansel Adams. Bud graduated from Stanford and received his MD from Stanford Medical School, continuing on to complete training and internship in Surgery. He became a Commissioned Medical Officer in the U.S. Navy, performing distinguished service in Pago Pago, Samoa and Guam in the South Pacific. Upon arrival there, he was surprised to discover himself Chief of Surgery, though straight out of Medical School; but even more shocked to find out he was also Chief of Obstetrics and shortly thereafter delivered his third child while madly flipping through his medical texts. He came to Livermore just before the opening of the new hospital, Valley Memorial; he performed the first surgery there a month after the hospital opened and was instrumental in shepherding the hospital's growth and expansion, and as a visionary he anticipated the future development and medical needs of the Livermore Valley. He served as Chief of Staff twice and was on the Board of Directors. He was an active advocate in persuading the Board to purchase the land upon which now stands the hospital's major branch, ValleyCare Medical Center in Pleasanton. Bud was devoted not just to the hospital, but also to his larger community, and worked devotedly as a civic leader and community builder. He was a founding member of the Friends of the Lab, which eventually evolved into the Valley Study Group, which was instrumental in enlightening the community about the positive research happening at the Lawrence Livermore Lab, at a time of strong local animosity towards the Lab's presence in the Valley. He was a founding member of the Livermore Wine Growers Association, set up to promote the small vineyards springing up around our fertile valley. After retiring from active practice, he worked fulltime on his own 13 acres of Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc grapes, handling every aspect of the complex schedule of tilling, spraying, weeding, and most especially working cleverly to defeat his mortal enemies, the starlings, who would descend in massive flocks each summer seeking to rob him of his maturing crop. Preceded in death by his parents, younger brother, Ed, and grandson, Peter, he leaves behind the love of his life, Elizabeth, whom he met at Stanford where she was in Nursing School; their 63 years together were filled with adventure, zest and joy. The pride of his life were his 5 children, Steve (Molly), Polly (Bill), Marty (Mannie), Dave (Donna) and Becky (Chip), as well as his 14 grandchildren, Anna (A.J.), Peter, Greg, Nick, Robin, Chris, Luca, Amie, Travis, Luke, Julian, Kaitee, Dylan, and Will, who inspired him to declare recently "his great optimism for the future." Also left behind are honorary Greist family members Bob Voss and Darla Munson, who both worked so hard to assist us and Bud in every practical and compassionate way possible during these past difficult 4 months. Finally surviving are his sister and soul mate, Helen "Jimmie" Chandler of Tucson Arizona, and innumerable nieces and nephews, dear friends and former patients whose devotion and respect for him are testament to what an incredible friend, advocate, mentor and physician he was. Bud was a true Renaissance man, a ferocious reader, and had a steel trap of a mind for the fascinating trivia of the world around him. He loved to sing and play the harmonica. He was a lover of life in all its dimensions and possibilities. He taught us all to understand death as simply the beginning of the "next great adventure," and to have no fear. He now knows "what it is all about," and doubtless will be there to usher us onward when our own time comes. He will be profoundly missed on this plane of existence. His most famous line was, "I did it my way." Husband, father, grandfather, friend. Yes, Bud, you did it your way! Friends are invited to join the family in a celebration of his life at Shadow Hills Vineyard ("the Ranch"), Livermore Saturday, December 11, from 1-5 PM. Donations in Bud's memory can be made to Doctors Without Borders. (www.doctorswithoutborders.org).