Alvin H Baum Jr.

1930 - 2021

Alvin H. Baum, Jr. passed away on March 28, 2021. He was 90 years old, and died of natural causes in his sleep.

Alvin (Al) was born September 7, 1930 and grew up in Highland Park, Chicago. Al graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in 1952 and Harvard Law School in 1955. Following graduation, Al was stationed in Berlin with the U.S. army, responsible for security records until being honorably discharged in 1958. In San Francisco, he was hired as an associate lawyer by Heller Ehrman. Al left the law after five years for his master's in City & Regional Planning from UC Berkeley. He eventually became deputy director of the SF Bay Conservation & Development Commission, writing regulations that to this day protect the Bay. Al later led a city planning firm for 12 years. During the AIDS epidemic, Al was called to his third career as a psychotherapist. He built a private practice lasting into his 80s.

Al will be remembered as a brilliant and strategic philanthropist. Benchmark groups for democracy, LGBTQ+ inclusion, and the arts benefited from his wisdom and generosity. He was on the boards of the ACLU and Jewish Family & Children's Service; director of Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund, and the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco; and a patron to the New Conservatory Theatre Center. He founded the Access Institute for Psychological Services and the New Israel Fund. At 82, Al was given the Lifetime Achievement Award and served as Grand Marshal of the San Francisco Pride Parade, one of his life's highlights. Among many awards recognizing Al's activism were: the SF AIDS Foundation's Community Service Award (2006), the Human Rights Campaign's James Hormel Award (1996), and the Jewish Community Federation's Robert Sinton Award for Distinguished Leadership (2019).

From the 1960s until the 2000s, Al was a familiar sight zipping around San Francisco on his iconic red scooter. In these years Al, ever affable and sharp-witted, entertained at his Green Street home and developed his many lifelong friendships. In 1977 he wrote to the Harvard class of 1952, "'I have become more open, more accepting, less 'uptight,' in both my professional and my personal life… if I were ever to have what I'd thought I wanted - the house with the 'white picket fence' - the partner there would be a man rather than a woman." In 2004, Al met that man, Robert Holgate. Their relationship endured and grew over seventeen years. They married on their tenth anniversary in 2014, and together traveled, collected art, and worked on philanthropic endeavors.

A virtual Celebration of Al's Life will be held on April 13th at 4p PT, followed by virtual Shiva on April 14th at 4p PT. Information regarding both services can be found on his memorial page at GatheringUs.com. All are welcome to attend one or both events.

Charitable donations can be made to the following organizations: New Israel Fund, ACLU, Openhouse, and New Conservatory Theatre Center.