Herb Spielman

1917 - 2016

Herb Spielman November 22, 1917 to October 9, 2016 Herbert Spielman was born in 1917 in Cleveland, Ohio, one of two children to Ukrainian Jewish immigrants. The family moved to Newark, NJ and eventually The Bronx in New York City, where Herb completed high school and met his wife to be. The vibrant city arts scene beckoned, and Herb began to take classes in dance and the arts at Cooper Union. He studied modern dance with Martha Graham and joined the dance corps of the New York Metropolitan Opera, performing in the touring company of "The Eternal Road". During World War II, he served in radio electronics support in Italy and was awarded the Bronze Star. After the war, Herb and his wife, Hedda Gladstern, decided to settle in the Philadelphia area, where he resumed his education on the G.I. Bill at Drexel University to become an electrical engineer. He began his career working with radar defense but quickly switched to the new field of computer hardware engineering, first with Philco, then RCA, winding up writing hardware microcode for Sperry Univac. His beloved wife died at age 49 after a long illness, leaving Herb with two daughters in college and two sons in high school. Twenty years later, having entered retirement and traveled extensively with Elderhostel, Herb decided to move out to the Bay Area to be close to three of his children. Herb settled into his golden years at Rossmoor outside Walnut Creek. He loved the Bay Area for its unique closeness to the beauty of nature as well as the lively urban arts scene. He was an active member of the Rossmoor hiking club, tutored his peers on web and email skills, and co-founded a weekly men's support group. His travels took him to faraway spots on the map like India, China and the Galapagos, with repeated trips to the English countryside. When his mobility declined in 2011, Herb moved into The Redwoods in Mill Valley where he cherished dining with his friends and the view of the shorebirds hunting in the marsh with Richardson Bay beyond. Herb is survived by his daughters, Maya Gladstern (Peter Blustein) and Eda Spielman (Arnie Bauchner), and his sons Ken Spielman (Helen Doyle) and Conrad Spielman (Xiaoxu Li), as well as seven grandchildren: Alex Greene (Katie), Briana Gladstern, Thaddeus Blustein, Josh Bauchner, Shayna Bauchner, Hannah Spielman (Ryan Sekhon) and Nate Spielman, and three great-granddaughters (Callie, Misha and Jackie.) After retirement, Herb stood up for a woman's right to choose by often helping women through the gauntlet of protesters in front of a clinic entrance. In lieu of flowers, he would have preferred a small donation to Planned Parenthood in his name. There will be an ice cream social in The Redwoods auditorium to celebrate Herb's life on December 10th at 2:00pm.