Leah Chodorow
1909-Dec. 2, 2009
Stanford, California

Leah Turitz Chodorow, 98, formerly of Ladera, died Dec. 2, 2009.

She and her husband Marvin were early residents of Ladera and active members of the community. They lived in Ladera until after Mr. Chodorow retired, and then moved to Stanford where they lived on campus in senior housing for faculty. Born in New York City, she attended Radcliffe College and the Smith School of Social Work.

She was married for 68 years to Stanford applied physics professor and Silicon Valley electronics pioneer Marvin Chodorow, who died in 2005. She worked as a social worker in New York and Boston, where she met her husband while he was a graduate student at MIT.

Ms. Chodorow was a founder and first president of the parent board of the Stanford Village Nursery School (now the Bing Nursery School at Stanford); served for 10 years as chairwoman of the board of the Peninsula Children's Center (now AchieveKids); and was program chair of the Palo Alto Youth Concerts.

She was a major fundraiser for the Stanford Center for Research on Women (now the Clayman Institute for Gender Research), helped organize and served as president of the Radcliffe Club of the Peninsula, and was on the board of the San Francisco Symphony. In 1972 she was a recipient of the Radcliffe Alumnae Award for her volunteer activities.

Ms. Chodorow enjoyed travel, gardening, skiing, tennis and badminton, family member said. Her volunteer and home activities were honored in articles in local newspapers from the 1950s through the 1990s.

She is survived by her daughters, Nancy J. Chodorow of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Joan E. Chodorow of Venice, California; sister Sonya Schopick of Bridgeport, Connecticut; and two grandchildren.

Tags: public service