Dr. Beth Columbe

Dr. Beth Colombe passed away May 1, 2023. An immunologist and longtime member of the American Society of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI), she was quiet, meticulous, and engaged but never sought the limelight. Her wisdom and insight made her a good listener as well as a generous supporter of people and organizations. She had a dry sense of humor, sharp intellect, and stout moral compass. Independent and fair-minded, she maintained the esteem of all who knew her.

She graduated from Brandeis in 1957, married, and spent time in Europe where she went to cooking schools in countries where her husband taught English. She later pursued her scientific education, receiving a PhD in Physiology from UC Berkeley in 1967. She divorced and remarried (Roy Colombe), held post-docs at UCLA with Dr. John Fahey and at Stanford with Dr. Carl Grumet, then worked with Dr. Rose Payne also at Stanford, and then co-directed the new Immunogenetics & Transplant Lab with Dr. Marvin Garavoy at UCSF. She returned to her beloved East Coast and directed the HLA Lab at Jefferson Transplant Institute in Philadelphia. For her decades-long services to ASHI she was honored with their Distinguished Service Award in 2010. She retired in 2020 at age 84.

Family meant the world to her. Beth was preceded in death by her mother, Annette Fine Cohen, and father, George Cohen, both of Hartford, Connecticut, as well as many beloved aunts, uncles, and cousins. She is survived by cousins Dan Fine (wife Carolyn), Jane Solous, Liz Martino (husband Harold), Donna Mark (ex-wife of cousin Robert Hurwit), Jess Hurwit (husband Stephen), Jan Crean and Meryl Crean along with their families plus two step-children Audrey Colombe and Leroy Colombe. Her staff at the Philadelphia lab were her 'daily family.' She was cared for in her final days by dear friends Maggie Gardener and Daphne Hurdle. She loved classical piano (Murray Perahia, Marc-Andre Hamelin, and Rafa? Blechacz), Baroque chamber music (and the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society), birding (the Audubon Society), snorkeling, cooking, reading, a well-told joke, and the Boston Red Sox. Always and forever the Red Sox. She served on the board of Gardener's House Inc., loved to travel, and supported several animal welfare and conservancy organizations. A memorial celebration is being planned in Philadelphia. Contributions can be made in her name to the Nature Conservancy of Connecticut, Gardener's House Inc. of Hartford, or the SPCA of San Francisco.