A LEGACY OF GIVING MEMORIALIZED IN THE JEWISH STATE

Alper Abdy Garren was a brilliant scientist who was devoted to the creation and maintenance of public parks, for which he made a generous gift, upon his passing, to Jewish National Fund. Born on April 30, 1925 in Oakland, CA, he was a thoughtful and scholarly man. He attended the United States Naval Reserve Midshipmen's School, University of Notre Dame in 1945, and served as a Commissioned Lieutenant in the United States Naval Reserve through 1947. He received his B.A. and M.A. from University of California, Berkeley and his Ph.D. in physics from Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1955.

As a Particle Physicist at Berkeley Lab, Dr. Garren collaborated and worked closely with scientists around the world, sharing his ideas with colleagues and mentoring his young students.

Dr. Garren was raised in a family that was very active in the local Jewish community. He had a passion for traveling and was especially drawn to the culture and people of Asia. He also enjoyed the performing arts and was a patron of the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Symphony, and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Philanthropically, Dr. Garren generously supported some 200 environmental, human rights, and performing arts organizations.

"Al was a sweet, kind, generous man who made friends easily and kept them for life," said Jon Eisenberg, Dr. Garren's longtime friend and trustee. "He was beloved and treasured by all who knew him." His enormous circle of friends included family friends dating back to his childhood, lifelong friendships that began during his university years at the International House Berkeley, colleagues at Berkeley Lab and Brookhaven National Laboratory, his sailing partners in the antique vessel "The Vixen," friendships cultivated during his extensive travels, and many others who were drawn to his charisma and personality.

Upon his passing on June 25, 2017, Dr. Garren left a generous bequest in his trust to Jewish National Fund, with the request that the gift be used for the creation and maintenance of public parks.

Together with its partners and projects, Jewish National Fund re-established the ancestral Jewish homeland in modern Israel, planted more than a quarter-billion trees in what was once a barren desert, and built hundreds of vibrant, bustling, life-affirming communities throughout Israel. Through his bequest to Jewish National Fund, Dr. Garren's legacy lives on in the Jewish homeland while helping the land and people of Israel continue to prosper and grow.