George Fernbacher

1929 - 2014

George Fernbacher

George Fernbacher died on April 28, 2014 at the age of 84. He was born August 5, 1929 to Myrtle Kraus and George Fernbacher in Los Angeles. He went to Beverly Hills High School where he played basketball and tennis.  He spent his summers with his older brother, Phil, as a lifeguard at the Jonathan Club on Santa Monica Beach.  He then went on to the University of California at Berkeley where he graduated from the School of Business in 1951.  He served on the CAL rally committee and was a member & President of the ZBT fraternity.  He liked to say CAL was the best investment he ever made, costing him $34 a quarter for tuition.

George met his future wife at the King X in Oakland.  It was love at first sight.  George married Barbara Louise Ziegler in San Rafael on August 17, 1952.  He did his basic training at Fort Ord in Monterey with the U.S. Army and then was commissioned to Izmir, Turkey where he was stationed with NATO.

Barbara & George returned to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1955 and moved to Greenbrae, where they lived for the next 60 years.  Following in his father's footsteps, George worked for The Emporium in San Francisco and then opened his own women's clothing stores.  He later became a manufacturer's representative selling industrial hardware and was co-owner of F & P Sales in Emeryville for 30 years.

Away from work, George spent his free time with his family, his friends and CAL.  He was very involved with his kids, coaching teams and playing lots of tennis with them.  Family vacations were spent in Tahoe and Hawaii or anywhere that had a tennis court. George and Barbara traveled the world to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Australia, Hong Kong and Japan as well as most of the U.S.  One of his highlights was attending all 4 Tennis Grand Slam tournaments. They celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in August 2002. Barbara passed away in 2006 after a long illness, leaving George with a broken heart.

George was a diehard Bear Backer who was known as a go getter and served enthusiastically on both the Cal Alumni Association Board and the Women's Athletic Board.  He served as President of the Rafael Racquet Club, served on the Board of Directors for the Marin Symphony as well as Marin Jewish Community Center.  He volunteered teaching math at Davidson Middle School in San Rafael.  George was a dedicated Oakland Rotarian for 25 years and after retirement joined the Mission San Rafael Rotary. 

George is survived by his four children, Diane, John (Kathy), Beth and Greg (Kelly); six grandchildren, Sarah, Kelley, Jack, Gabe, Max and Jayson and two nieces, Ann and Joan and his brother-in-law Harry Ziegler.  George was a kind, giving person who always had a smile on his face and was always ready with a bad joke.  He was a loving husband, a wonderful father, adored by his grandkids, a great friend and a True Blue.  He will be missed.

There will be a memorial service this Friday, May 2 at 11:00am at Congregation Rodef Sholom, 170 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael, CA.  The family suggests donations be given in his honor to the Barbara and George Fernbacher Alumni Scholarship, The University of California Berkeley Foundation, P.O. Box 774, Berkeley, CA  94701.