Henry E. Streitfeld

Hank Streitfeld died on April 26, 2011, after a brief battle with metastatic melanoma. After Dartmouth he attended Cornell Medical School and earned money to support his medical education as a New York cabbie, a job he actually found liberating as a counterpoint to the rigors of medical school. Following Cornell, Hank moved to Los Angeles to do his internship at USC. While in LA, he met and married Pam Port, a Bryn Mawr graduate. After Hank's two-year stint as an Air Force surgeon at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Santa Barbara County, Hank and Pam moved to Northern California for his residency at UCSF. In 1977, following his residency, they moved to Berkeley, where Hank joined a partner in private practice as an obstetrician and gynecologist. Despite the night and weekend call demands for an obstetrician and the changing economics of medicine, Hank remained in private practice over the next 34 years because he wanted to practice medicine his way, taking the time to talk to and to get to know his patients. His license plate, "B Gentle", spoke to his philosophy and approach. He loved delivering babies and doing surgery, using the nimble hands that gave him a feathery outside shot in basketball. In addition to his practice, over the years Hank trained many residents in surgery at Alto Bates Summit Medical Center and developed a widespread reputation as a wonderful teacher of surgical techniques. He also liked using his skilled hands to work in his garden and to deftly slice and chop fruits and vegetables for elaborate salads. Hank and Pam lived in the same house in Berkeley for all the years he was in practice. They also acquired a second home in Stinson Beach along the Marin County coast, where Hank went every weekend to walk his dogs, read, work in the garden, and be near the water he loved so much. His ashes were scattered in the ocean surf near his Stinson home.

Hank and Pam were married for 40 years and have two beautiful daughters, three grandchildren, and a fourth on the way. Hundreds of family, friends, colleagues, and patients gathered in the Emeryville Marina on May 15 to celebrate his life and contributions. Those gathered included Dartmouth classmates Harry Greenberg, Jim Makol, and David Gordon. In an apt tribute to Hank's personality and sartorial style, the gathering was informal, with most of those in attendance wearing Hawaiian shirts and bright, casual clothes. The speakers at the ceremony conveyed with humor and sadness how much Hank was loved and how much he will be missed.

 –  David Gordon '66