David Stoloff

1932 - 2023

David Stoloff
February 20, 1932 - May 29, 2023
David Stoloff died on Monday, May 29, 2023, at St. Paul's Towers in Oakland, Calif., from Alzheimer's disease.
Eugene David Stoloff was born in Los Angeles on February 20, 1932. He was the third child and only son of Sam and Jennie (Barab) Stoloff. He had two older sisters, Sylvia (later Gordon) and Elaine (later Shragge). The family lived in Reno, Nev., and then Stockton, Calif., before settling in Lodi.
David went to San Jose State before transferring to the University of Chicago, where he studied Urban Planning and graduated with an MA in 1954. Following two years in the army, David got a job as senior area planner for the Tennessee State Planning Commission (1956-59). He met his first wife, Barbara Reynolds, in Tennessee and they moved to New York City, where their two sons, Sam and Charlie (later Avraham Shimon), were born.
In New York, David worked as a planner for the New York Regional Plan Association (1959-1961). He was a lecturer at Hunter College and the New School for Social Research. David was active in the American Institute of Planners, and was the national coordinator for Planners for Equal Opportunity. From 1967-69, he was the Director of the Commission on Community Interrelations, American Jewish Congress. He also worked with the Metropolitan Committee on Planning, the group that tried to stop the destruction of the neighborhood where the World Trade Center was built.
After David and Barbara divorced in 1964, he met his second wife, Judith (Gutman) Stoloff, while working in local politics. They married in 1966 and had one daughter, Jennifer. David and Judith moved to Connecticut in the early 1970s, where David worked for The Greater Hartford Process, an effort to integrate the central city and the suburbs in Hartford. They then moved to Knoxville, where David worked as a consultant and Judith was an associate professor of Urban Planning at the University of Tennessee. In 1980 the family moved to Washington, D.C., where David worked briefly for FEMA. After David and Judith divorced, David moved to San Francisco. David married Susan Klee of Berkeley, California in July 1982. They remained married until David's death.
David worked for the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency for five years where he was involved in the redevelopment of the China Basin neighborhood, and for the University of California at Berkeley developing housing for students, faculty, and staff. David founded Affordable Housing Associates, now SAHA, a low-income housing non-profit in 1993. He served for nearly a decade on the Berkeley Planning Commission as both commissioner and chair. He was also the chair of the board of Bay Area Community Services (BACS).
David and Susan moved to St. Paul's Towers in Oakland in November 2015. David is survived by his wife, Susan Klee; three children, Sam, Charlie (Avraham Shimon), and Jennifer; two stepdaughters, Lisa Mihaly and Jessica Mihaly; Judith Gutman Stoloff (former spouse); seven nieces and nephews; eight grandchildren; four step-grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.
Donations in David's memory may be made to Bay Area Community Services.