Dr. Paul Chodroff

Dr. Paul Chodroff
1938 - 2021
Dr. Paul Chodroff passed away in his home after a long battle with cancer on October 1, 2021.

Born in New Jersey, Paul attended Weehawken High School, Tufts University, and Jefferson Medical School. He completed his internship and medical residency at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. At the end of his residency, Paul had the tremendous fortune to meet, fall in love with, and win the heart of the most beautiful, kind, and loving woman in the entire world, Brenda Lynne Block. Married on January 8, 1967, Paul and Brenda remained together for almost fifty years, until Brenda's untimely death on August 29, 2016.

The couple first lived in Philadelphia, and then moved to the naval base in Charleston, South Carolina where Paul served at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Charleston, South Carolina as assistant chief and chief of neurosurgery for the six naval districts from 1968-1970. They later moved to California when Brenda was nine months pregnant with their daughter, Carol. Paul set up his neurosurgical practice in Contra Costa County where he practiced active clinical neurosurgery until 1998 and continued as a neurosurgical consultant until 2013.

Paul had a tremendous career as a neurosurgeon and was highly regarded for the exceptional clinical care he provided his patients and their families. He was instrumental in the growth and development of medical care at John Muir and in Contra Costa. His pro bono work establishing injury prevention programs reached thousands of high school students.

The combination of Paul's intellectual curiosity and creativity inspired him to invent medical devices that saved countless lives. He invented emergency medical equipment, the Max Cart, which was used across the world and in the White House. He designed critical neurosurgical instrumentation, now used worldwide, and developed two telemedicine programs – TENN (Telemedical Emergency Neurosurgical Network) and TeleVisit, both of which wound up in the Smithsonian. He was one of six nationwide finalists in the Health Care Division of the First National Information Infrastructure Awards; Paul treasured the memory of Surgeon General C. Everett Koop presenting him with his award.

Paul was also a gifted and effective teacher. He served on the clinical faculty at UCSF for 40 years as assistant clinical professor of neurosurgery, and he lectured extensively around the country and internationally.

Known and admired for his keen intellect, sharp wit, extraordinary memory, and attention to detail, Paul regaled friends and family with stories about the incredible experiences from his life, from performing delicate brain surgery under the most unusual circumstances to traveling beneath the ocean surface at the helm of a fully armed nuclear ballistic missile submarine. Paul also loved to entertain friends, loved ones, and occasionally unsuspecting audiences with his corny humor. His daughter's high school friends nicknamed him "Cornball Paul" and the moniker stuck. His favorite title, however, was the one bestowed upon him later in life by his beloved granddaughter: "Pa."

Paul's deep love and devotion to family extended to the many friends, colleagues, patients, and family pets whose lives he touched. He loved sharing his passion for travel, nature, fishing, photography, cooking, wine, and the Golden State Warriors with everyone he loved.

Paul is survived by his daughter, Carol, his granddaughter, Kaia, as well as nephews, nieces, and devoted friends.

Per Paul's wishes and his concern about keeping everyone safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, a celebration of Paul's life will be held at a later time. In lieu of flowers, contributions in honor of Paul's memory may be sent to Give One Dollar A Day – an organization dedicated to supporting families of children with terminal illness, started by his loving niece, Amy. https://www.giveonedollaraday.org/