Richard Stuart Goodman M.D.

Richard Stuart Goodman, MD Beloved husband, father, physician and teacher died at the age of 80, in St. Mary's Hospital, San Francisco, California on October 10th, due to medical complications. Richard was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 27, 1929 to Henry and Dora Metz Goodman, the fourth of six children. Gene, Miriam, Shirley, Richard, Victor and Allan grew up in Milwaukee. Richard graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a B.S. degree in June,1951. He earned his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin Medical School in 1954, and, after a rotating internship at George Washington University Hospital in 1955, began a psychiatry residency at St. Elizabeth's in Washington, D.C. He served in the United States Air Force, in Morocco and, on returning to the States, began his dermatology residency at the University of Chicago Hospitals, which he completed in 1961. After a post-doctoral NIH fellowship in 1962, he moved to San Francisco and opened his office on Ocean Avenue. In 1963, he was certified by the American Board of Dermatology and became Clinical Professor of Dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco. He joined the medical staff at St. Mary's in 1964. Doctor Goodman received an additional certification in the subspecialty of Dermatopathology in 1975 He read slides for dermatologists throughout the Bay Area and beyond. A fine physician and teacher, he answered patients' questions and concerns with clarity and honesty. Working with students, residents and young doctors was very rewarding. On his retirement in 1997, he was appointed to St. Mary's Honorary Medical Staff. He was a member of the San Francisco Medical Society, the San Francisco Dermatologic Society, the Pacific Dermatologic Society and the American Academy of Dermatology. Richard married Diana Vest in 1966. They have two daughters, Karen and Andrea. Richard made wonderful wooden toys, tables, cutting boards, and much sawdust. He solved mechanical problems with some inventive and not always practical solution, leaving detailed instructions for everyone. Richard's vision quest was his mother's cheesecake, in low-calorie form. By his early seventies, he had reached his goal. He was similarly driven by a fascination with the stock market and the possibility of outsmarting risk with thorough research. When risk was consigned to the craps table, however, Richard became a freer man - "Dick Vegas," as Karen called him. He relished being in the Sierras and at Lake Tahoe and he loved his elkhound, Happy. He windsurfed on the freezing lake before the sport was popular. He enjoyed the Arboretum and Stow Lake. He grew plants from seed. Peaceful, simple things gave him the most pleasure. Richard loved Beethoven and Mozart and, above all, opera. He had his music with him to the end. Richard is survived by his wife Diana, daughter Karen, daughter Andrea and Rahel Negusse, his sister Shirley Tilsen, brother Allan Goodman, and many much-loved nieces, nephews, cousins, and in-laws, friends of long-standing, neighbors, patients and colleagues. All feel the loss of a fine, gentle, loving and generous man. A student. A scholar. An original. How we love you! There will be a private gathering on Sunday, November 15th, from 2 to 6 pm. Please call the family for details. Donations may be made to the San Francisco Botanical Garden Society at Stybring Arboretum, the San Francisco Public Library, or your local Public Broadcast Station.