Bernard Gordon

Bernard Irwin Gordon
June 4, 1930 - November 8, 2021
On November 8, 2021, Dr. Bernard Irwin Gordon, loving husband and father of three sons, passed away at 91 and a half. Bernard was born on June 4, 1930 in Montreal, Canada, to Frieda and Jacob Gordon. He received his medical degree from the University of McGill in 1956 and practiced dermatology for 44 years in San Francisco.   

Bernard led a remarkable life. Growing up in Montreal, he excelled at extra-curricular activities, in particular sports, playing football, basketball, hockey, and ultimately became an inter-collegiate fencing champion in 1950. Bernard was one of only five Jews (out of a class of 125) accepted for admission to McGill Medical School. After interning at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, he left for a three-year residency at New York University Hospital. Bernard worked with the leading dermatologist of his day, Dr. Marion Sulzberger, Chief of Dermatology at NYU, where he helped to develop early hair transplant techniques which he subsequently brought to his practice in San Francisco.

At the conclusion of his three-year residency, because of American immigration laws, Bernard was forced to make a tough decision. Being Canadian, he worked in the United States on a post-graduate temporary visa. According to U.S. law, he had to leave the country for two years before he could immigrate back to the USA. Dr. Sulzberger proposed a year-long Rockefeller Foundation fellowship to work in Caracas, Venezuela and help build a dermatology department at the Hospital Vargas under the direction of Dr. Kerdel Vegas and Dr. Jacinto Convit. Bernard spent 1960 conducting field research on tropical skin diseases in the Amazon with the Orinoco tribe, and published a monograph on the disease, Rhinoscleroma; he also co-authored medical papers on Leishmaniasis. 

Bernard met the love of his life, Irene Lorber, in Caracas. Originally from France, Irene and her family survived World War II by fleeing to a Swiss Red Cross camp for Jewish refugees. Her family would live both in France and in Venezuela. It was on a fated return visit to Venezuela that she and Bernard met at a party and pursued a year-long courtship.

At the conclusion of his time spent at the Hospital Vargas in Caracas, Bernie spent his 2nd year in Europe. With introductions by Dr. Sulzberger, he worked with leading dermatologists in Madrid, Geneva, and in Paris at the Hopital Saint-Louis.  

On August 24, 1962, Bernie and Irene married in Paris. The couple left for the United States, driving across the country where they settled in San Francisco in 1963. 

With the help of Irene, Bernard opened his own private dermatology practice and eventually became a clinical professor at the University of California. During the Vietnam war, he conducted research on sweat disorders. Bernard's dedication to his profession culminated with his serving as Chief of Dermatology at San Francisco's Mt. Zion Hospital from 1981 to 1999. Irene infused Bernard's curiosity about life with a passion for the arts and filled their lives with Middle Eastern dance, music, and travel. He will be deeply missed. He is survived by his wife, Irene, his three sons, Greg, Byron, and Leonard, and three granddaughters, Chandra, Trudie-Rose, and Senya.