Bryant Toth

1950 - 2021

Bryant A. Toth M.D.
July 13th, 1950 - October 3rd, 2021
Bryant Alexander Toth, M.D. died on Sunday, October 3rd, 2021 at the age of 71, in Italy, the country he loved dearly. Two days earlier, he along with his beloved wife Jill, celebrated the marriage of their son Bryant Toth, Jr. to Natania Sampietro at the Duomo di Amalfi. At the reception Bryant gave a moving father-of-the-groom speech leaving everyone in tears and was overjoyed to learn that his daughter Alexandra and her husband Michael Umbarger were expecting his first granddaughter in the Spring.
Bryant was born in Orange, New Jersey to Sarah Bryant (Chickie) and Alexander Toth (Pops). Their youngest child and only son, he was adored by his two older sisters (Judy Toth Tharp and Sally Ann Toth) as well as his Hungarian grandparents (Louis and Julia Toth). At a young age Bryant learned to play the bagpipes as a proud member of the DeMolay Fraternal Organization. He continued this musical tradition by playing in Bohemian Grove plays and through the years amassed quite a collection of bagpipes from all over the world.
Bryant left Caldwell, New Jersey for Hanover and the storied halls of Dartmouth College where he majored in Human Biology. Although his interests were diverse, having lettered in varsity soccer and joining the Kappa Sigma fraternity, his priority was academics and he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1972. Bryant then pursued his interest in medicine and attended Brown University's Program in Medicine and received his degree in 1976. From there he headed West to the University of California-San Francisco where he completed his first two years of surgical residency.

He met the love of his life, Jill Sifton Henderson, a Stanford graduate from Fresno, California, on a blind date on August 3rd, 1976. They married nine months later and shared a loving and dynamic partnership for 44 years.
A month after their marriage, they moved to Boston and Bryant began his six-year residency in General and Plastic Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1983 Bryant was awarded the Kazanjian Fellowship in Surgery that enabled him to pursue craniofacial surgery. He selected Paris, under the tutelage of Dr. Daniel Marchac, one of the few masters of this specialty, to pursue craniofacial reconstruction at the Center for Craniofacial Surgery at Necker Enfants Malades Hospital. Dr. Marchac became a cherished mentor and lifelong friend.
In 1984 Bryant and Jill settled in San Francisco and their family life began with the birth of their daughter Alexandra in December and Bryant Jr. three years later. As an adventurous, curious and loving foursome they explored the world together from Istanbul to Rome, Hanoi to Budapest and everywhere in between.
Bryant opened his Plastic and Reconstructive surgery practice in September 1984 which was managed by Karen Evind, who would become a loyal friend and confidant for 37 years, and he took great pride in his private practice.
In 1985 he co-founded the Pediatric Craniofacial Department at UCSF-Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland that was modeled after Dr. Marchac's Center for Craniofacial Surgery in Paris. Bryant established a department where multidisciplinary specialists could convene to provide the level of care needed to effectively treat children born with craniofacial anomalies. He was the Chief of Plastic Surgery at UCSF-Benioff Oakland for nine years and at the time of his death was the Co-Director of the Craniofacial Department.

His commitment to the medically underserved reached far beyond the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1987, Bryant, along with his Harvard mentor, Dr. John Constable and his colleague and friend Dr. Michael Moses established the Indochina Surgical Education Exchange (ISEE), a charitable program in Vietnam. Rather than come for a few weeks a year and perform surgery on a limited number of patients, the goal of ISEE was to teach their Vietnamese counterparts the surgical techniques they lacked so that they could provide long lasting and consistent care to the Vietnamese people who had been so ravaged by war. The mission of ISEE was "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day; teach a man to fish, feed him for his life" and as a result many of these Vietnamese doctors have gone on to establish in-country training programs of their own.
As a longtime resident of San Francisco, a city he loved and adopted as his own, Bryant was involved over the years in many community organizations. He found joy and fellowship as a member of the Bohemian Club where he served as Co-captain of his cherished Hill Billies Camp and served on the board of the Pacific-Union Club.
On January 27, 2020 Bryant was awarded by the President of Italy the Ufficiale dell'Ordine Della Stella d'Italia, the highest civilian honor given by the Italian government for his 35 years of extraordinary contribution to the advancement of medicine in a ceremony presided over by the San Francisco Consul General of Italy, Lorenzo Ortona.
Bryant was a wonderful husband, father, son, brother and friend; his passing leaves many
with a sadness that seems impossible to overcome. He was loving, loyal and generous. He took
the time to give credit, acknowledge others and let you know how much you meant to him. He used this quote by Sir Isaac Newton frequently: "If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulder of giants." Having known you Bryant, we can as well.
The family requests that those who wish to contribute in Bryant's memory consider donating to the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland directly benefiting the Craniofacial Department:

https://givingtogether.ucsf.edu/toth

A celebration of life is being scheduled for the beginning of 2022. Please visit www.drtothmemorial.com, for more information in the coming weeks.