Obituaries

Neal Blumenfeld, eminent psychiatrist, citizen of the world, passed at his home on December 1, 2013. He was 83. 

Neal was preceded in death by his beloved wife Lise, his parents Dr. Charles M. and Pauline Blumenfeld, and sister Mrs. Diane Miller, and is survived by many: his three children, Eve, Peter and Thomas; three stepchildren: Mimi, Judy and Mike Wolff; five grandchildren: Laura, Alex, and Nick Blumenfeld, and Alex and Nat Wolff; and friends, comrades, neighbors, classmates and colleagues. 

Neal was born on November 26, 1930, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and spent most of his adolescence in Sacramento, California, after having lived in Cleveland, Ohio and Salt Lake City, Utah. He graduated from UC Berkeley, received his medical degree from the University of California, San Francisco, was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and performed his residency in psychiatry at Yale University. He served as Army captain while stationed in Vicenza, Italy, where he and his first wife Leah Zeff adopted two children, Eve and Thomas. Peter was born nine years later. Neal settled in Berkeley and was a prominent figure in the Bay Area mental health scene since the 1960s. 

Not defined by his medical acumen alone, Neal was an astute political observer. A passionate civil rights advocate, his fervor found expression in the Free Speech Movement, which he fully embraced among countless human rights causes. He viewed the Free Speech Movement as a moral issue, rather than an issue of a youth rebellion, writing: “It is intriguing to speculate on why the moral issue is so frequently ignored or derided.… Perhaps it is too disturbing to recognize that there are people who can say: ‘I have not given over my whole conscience to any system -- I reserve the right to protest (and if necessary to break the rules of the system in that protest), when the system trespasses upon basic rights.’” As a philanthropist, he was a man committed to the betterment of those who either could not, or were not empowered, to help themselves. 

At various times in his life Neal could be described as a radical, revolutionary, Socialist, Neo-Trotskyist, lefty, and self-proclaimed BhuJew, yet these labels do not do justice to the depth of his commitment to the causes he believed in. A goal in his life was to make common cause, to help the oppressed, to stand up for the worker, to defend the individual and environment from corporations, and to give voice to the voiceless. A man with a large heart for those who needed help, he was a believer that a just society is a fair society. 

His adventurous spirit took him from Cuba to Eritrea, on trails and rope bridges, in cold rivers and lakes, up mountains and down gorges. His athleticism led him to enjoy everything from basketball and hiking to climbing, bicycling, tennis, and swimming, winning his age division in Master’s swimming at age 69. Neal enjoyed both art and music, and he loved to play his steel guitar and sing his favorite folk songs and Spanish Revolutionary War ballads. 

An avid life-long learner, he was both intellectually curious and physically active, equally at home in the library or public park. Intellectual, writer, environmentalist, linguist, raconteur, historian, antagonist, preservationist, and explorer, his vivacious spirit and larger-than-life personality captivated those who knew him. His dry sense of humor and endless supply of witty anecdotes entertained and engaged. 

The lefty has left, and an era has ended, but his indomitable spirit and joie de vivre remains and touches us. 

A celebration of his life will be held on January 18, 2014, at 1:00PM at the Northbrae Community Church, 941 The Alameda, Berkeley, CA. In lieu of flowers the family requests that tax-deductible donations be made to the Free Speech Movement Archives, 1801 5th Street, Berkeley, CA, 94710.