Jared Dreyfus, a Sebastopol health care advocate and a member of the Palm Drive hospital board, died of a heart attack Tuesday evening at his home in Sebastopol. He was 65.
Dreyfus, an attorney elected to the hospital board in November, brought his legal expertise to key committees aimed at getting Palm Drive back on solid legal and financial ground.
"He helped us straighten our legal house and put things in order," said Nancy Dobbs, president of the hospital board.
Dreyfus served on both the governance committee and a committee that was tasked with looking for ways the hospital could affiliate with other medical institutions.
Dreyfus was born in San Francisco but spent a good deal of his youth in Marin. He graduated from Sonoma State University in 1971 and went on to study at Boalt Hall School of Law in San Francisco.
After graduating from Boalt Hall in 1976, Dreyfus went on to join the San Francisco firm of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison. In 1982, Dreyfus briefly worked for a firm in Santa Rosa before returning to Marin County to launch his own practice.
When he was in San Francisco, Dreyfus served as a trial referee for the State Bar Court, and in Marin he served as a Superior Court judge pro tem.
Dreyfus moved to Sebastopol in 1998, and he became increasingly involved in West County health care issues after seeing first hand the value of the hospital, said his wife Eugenia "Genie" Clift.
"He was first so impressed with Palm Drive when my mother was seriously ill and had to stay there for a protracted period of time," Clift said. "He wanted to contribute."
He started volunteering and later joined the Palm Drive Hospital Auxiliary, as well as the Palm Drive Health Care Foundation. He was twice president of the foundation and continued to serve until his death.
Aside from his duties on the two hospital board committees, Dreyfus served as board secretary.
He also served as treasurer of JustHealth, a Santa Rosa-based health care consumer advocacy group.
Dreyfus enjoyed reading the works of English humorist P.G. Wodehouse, Christian apologetics and thrillers. He was also involved in theater, and performed in both plays and musicals. He had recently joined the Petaluma Readers Theater.
Dreyfus is survived by his sons, Adam Dreyfus of Virginia and Christian Dreyfus of Sonoma, from a previous marriage. He is also survived by daughter Kate Dreyfus of London.
Added Thursday: A memorial service for Jared Dreyfus is scheduled Sept. 18th at 10:30 a.m. at the Sebastopol Seventh-day Adventist Church, 1665 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol.
The family asks that donations in lieu of flowers be made to Dreyfus's three favorite non-profits: Palm Drive Health Care Foundation, JustHealth and West County Community Church.
- Martin Espinoza
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