Overlooked Branch of a Generous Family

To the Editor:

Your excellent article “Philanthropy Is in the Family Genes” (May 21) describing several generations of philanthropic members of the Haas family was a much-deserved tribute to an extraordinary tradition.

Thoughtful and compassionate funding has marked many decades of benefit to communities of the Bay Area. As you suggest, this is a family that not only gives fully of its wealth but also of its time and personal leadership. They continue to represent a renewable asset as each cohort of children reaches maturity.

I would like to call attention to those of the Koshland branch of the family, who were only lightly mentioned in the piece. Daniel Koshland, who died within days of his cousin Walter Haas in 1979, was a man of enormous ability, charm, and humanity. He played a significant role as a leader of the business community as well as an enduring model for future leaders of public-service organizations. He, too, inspired a family, and subsequent generations, to give of themselves as they give of their treasure.

Following World War II, Mr. Koshland was instrumental (along with other people of vision) in establishing the San Francisco Foundation, which just this year is celebrating a half-century of service to the community. When Dan Koshland died, he chose, typical of his brand of quiet philanthropy, to leave the bulk of his estate to the San Francisco Foundation without restriction or limit as to how it might be spent. He trusted the institution to make sound judgments, appropriate to the times — the hallmark of a community trust.

It is important to keep alive memories of those whose values, vision, and personal involvement have made our community a good place to live. Many of us continue to be motivated by Mr. Koshland’s example of vigorous commitment to the common good.

Martin Paley
Berkeley, Cal.