Milton Kodmur

Milton Kodmur passed away at the age of 100 in La Jolla, California on July 13, 2024, surrounded by his loving family. He was born in Los Angeles to Barney Kodmur, who came to the U.S. from Canada, where his family homesteaded, and to Ida, whose family emigrated to Boston from Lithuania. A favorite childhood memory was a neighbor's gift of a lemon meringue pie as a reward for guarding her fruit trees from the marauding neighborhood boys. He enrolled in ROTC while at UCLA, and continued officer training at UC Berkeley and at Yale. He served in the Air Force as a Second Lieutenant in the South Pacific during World War II and returned home to finish his engineering degree from UC Berkeley and begin his career in air conditioning equipment in San Francisco.An avid hunter and fisherman, he also played polo during his bachelor years and was a devotee of Dixieland jazz; he met his wife via the courtly manager of The Palace Hotel in 1955. Milton and Edith built a mid-century home in the Sausalito hills while they began their family; daughter Julie Ann was born in 1956 and son David in 1959. He was a founding member of the Sausalito Foundation. He was an enthusiast of Jaguars, owning numerous models over the years.He and his family moved to La Jolla in 1962. He served as President of ASHRAE and was a founding member of a cooking club called The Men from SPECIAL ['Society for the Preservation of Epicurean Cuisine including Alcoholic Libations'].Milton enjoyed deer, boar and duck hunting, fishing and the martial arts. He served on The Blackhorse Homeowners Board of Directors and attended lectures at UCSD. The small wooden sculptures he lovingly carved are cherished by his family and friends. His brother Melvin died in 1996; his sister Ayleen died in 2009.He is survived by his wife Edith Strauss Kodmur and their children, David Strauss Kodmur of Los Angeles and Julie Ann Kodmur of St. Helena, as well as a granddaughter, Charlotte Ruth Smith of San Diego. A private service took place in San Francisco.He asked that friends and family enjoy a glass of wine in his memory!