Robert Gottesman

Robert S. Gottesman The family of ROBERT S. GOTTESMAN is sad to announce his sudden death on January 1, 2011. Bob was born on October 7, 1929 in Buffalo, New York, to Samuel J. Gottesman and Ida LeBret Gottesman, He attended school in Buffalo and was an active member of the Boy Scouts earning his Eagle Rank. He received his B.A. in Business and a LLB from the University of Buffalo Law School. Following his graduation from the University of Buffalo, he attended Harvard Law School and obtained an LLM degree (Doctor of Law). Upon graduating from Harvard Law School, he enrolled in the U.S. Army and was accepted into the JAG (Judge Advocates Group) as a first Lieutenant. He spent three years in the Army serving in Germany. Upon returning to the U.S., he decided to see the country, and drove his car heading West. When he got to San Francisco, he fell in love with the City and stayed. He took and passed the California Bar Exam (he also passed the N. Y. Bar Exam) and went to work as an attorney in downtown S.F. at the grand salary of $300 a month. In 1958, he met his future wife, Shirley Charvonia, and they were married on August 14, 1959. After the births of their first two children, the family moved to Greenbrae (Marin County) and had two more children there. Bob practiced law as a single practitioner for over 50 years, specializing in Business law, Medical Malpractice and Personal Injury cases. He was an exceptional lawyer and a lovely, warm, and caring human being. Bob and Shirley enjoyed traveling to exotic places starting from the first year they were married. They traveled to every continent and hundreds of countries over the 51 years of their marriage. Recent trips found them climbing mountains in Rwanda to visit the gorillas, seeing the lemurs in Madagascar and snorkeling the reefs in the Philippine Islands. They loved to snorkel which took them to many beautiful, remote places in the world. He also was an excellent tennis player and loved playing the game with his Albert Court "Club" partners. He was playing tennis up until his death. He also loved to walk in the hills of Greenbrae everyday. Bob's greatest joy, however, was his family. His sons, Jim and Michael, daughters, Leslie and Nancy, and his 9 grandchildren gave him much pride and happiness. Bob is survived by his wife, Shirley Charvonia Gottesman of Greenbrae; his brother Lloyd Gottesman (Sheila) of Buffalo, N.Y. and Boynton Beach, Florida; his son, Jim of Greenbrae, daughter Leslie Steinberg (Alan) of San Jose, son Michael Gottesman (Bonnie Wolf) of Redwood City, and daughter Nancy Mann (Harold) of Greenbrae, and his nine wonderful Grandchildren, Joshua, Rachel, Dani, Noah, Nathan, Zachary, Jacob, Jordan and Lauren. He loved his family, and was loved in return. He will be greatly missed by all who knew him. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your favorite charity. Services will be held on Thursday, January 6th, 1pm at Congregation Rodef Sholom, 170 North San Pedro Road, San Rafael, CA Services entrusted to Mount Tamalpais Mortuary 415-459-2500.