Obituaries

Eugene “Gene” David Alpern, 87, of Torrance, California, passed away on October 18, 2017 in Rancho Palos Verdes. Funeral service and burial will take place at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery, Culver City, on Friday, October 20, 2017 at noon. Eugene was born on June 26, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois. His family moved to Los Angeles after the end of World War II. Eugene graduated from Fairfax High School and went on to attend UCLA, serve in the U.S. Air Force as a Russian language cryptanalyst during the Korean War, and earn a law degree from Loyola University, Los Angeles. He married Shirley Hasson in 1957. Eugene was a devoted, loyal and trusted husband, father, grandfather, brother/brother-in-law, uncle, and friend to many. He practiced law for nearly 50 years, involved himself in numerous Jewish charitable organizations, and enjoyed spending time with family, supporting his Los Angeles Dodgers and UCLA Bruins teams, collecting/organizing Japanese stamps and Catalina seashells, growing succulents, and swapping jokes with friends. Eugene is survived by his two daughters, Nancy (Alpern) Staffieri and husband David, and Annette Alpern; three grandchildren, Joshua and Sarah Staffieri and Aaron Alpern as well as numerous extended family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents (Ben and Eva (Hammerman) Alpern), brother (Irving Alpern), sister (Rae (Alpern) Wilensky) and loving wife, Shirley. Memorial Donations may be made to: The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Donation Processing, P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5014 or Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, SOVA Community Food & Resource Program, 3580 Wilshire Blvd Ste 700, Los Angeles, CA 90010