Ivan Judah Silverberg

Ivan Judah Silverberg
12/25/2025
Ivan Judah Silverberg (1935–2025)
Ivan Judah Silverberg, 90, of Mill Valley, California, died peacefully in San Rafael on December 25, 2025.
He was born in 1935 in Oak Park, Illinois, to Hazel and Abe Silverberg, and was a lifelong Cubs fan. Ivan studied chemistry at the University of California–Berkeley, and received his M.D. degree from the University of Southern California. He started his practice as a resident at Southern Pacific Hospital in San Francisco. He joined the faculty of University of California San Francisco in 1967 and served there throughout his career. He held senior leadership positions at Mt. Zion Hospital and was a consulting medical oncologist at Napa State Hospital from 1969 to 1995. He opened his private practice in hematology oncology in 1975 at Ralph K. Davies Medical Center (now CPMC Davies Campus), where he practiced for over 40 years.
From his office in the Castro district, he treated patients at the height of the AIDS epidemic with compassion and care. That experience led him to become a prominent advocate for legalizing medical marijuana. He was a signatory on the landmark 1996 California Proposition 215 (also known as the Compassionate Use Act) and was interviewed for 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, People magazine, and many other media outlets.
Ivan was a voracious reader, and an avid hiker, backpacker, and explorer of rugged natural spaces, with a lifetime fascination with Yosemite, Death Valley, and the eastern Sierra. He loved bird-watching and had a particular fascination with sandhill cranes. At home, he could most often be found in his garden, where he cultivated exotic orchids and plants, and grew the most fragrant roses. He despised Scotch broom. He loved Gilbert & Sullivan, Willie Nelson, classical music from Bach to Bartok, and opera, and possessed an encyclopedic knowledge of commercials and jingles from the 1930s and '40s. Ivan was a wine connoisseur and a consummate host who loved welcoming people into his home. Apart from the Cubs, he cheered on his beloved home teams, the San Francisco Giants and 49ers.
Ivan was a devoted, engaged father and grandfather who was adored by his family. Loving and thoughtful, he never forgot birthdays or important events, and commemorated them with beautifully written notes and personal gifts. One year, he printed sweatshirts emblazoned with a family photo and proudly wore one out and about. His patients loved him, and he maintained connections with many of those he had treated, as well as their families. Above all, he loved Rita, the love of his life and his wife of 46 years, and wrote her letters up until the year of his death.
Ivan is survived by his wife, Rita; his children, Alaina (Chris), Heidi (Scott), and Michael (Ruth); his grandchildren, Sophie, Milo, Abigail, and Abe; his step-grandchildren, Kiki and Alyssa; and his nephew Stuart, cousin Beverly, and former son-in-law Charles. It was his relationships with these people, whom he cherished more than anyone or anything, that would often compel Ivan to turn to his wife and say, "We are so lucky."
A memorial service was held in his honor on December 31 at Rodef Sholom, in San Rafael. Donations in his memory to Doctors Without Borders would be greatly appreciated.