Marin, CA

Dr. Alan Howard Margolin, Physician, Sailor, All Around Mensch, Dies at 85.

Dr. Alan Howard Margolin, a physician who found joy in everything from sailing the Pacific to tending his beloved backyard wisteria, died on April 3, 2025, at his home in Kentfield, California. He was 85.

He passed peacefully, on his own terms, surrounded by family and friends. Alan Margolin was born on January 30, 1940, in Los Angeles. He grew up in the mid-Wilshire area, later moving to Beverlywood. He attended Carthay Circle Elementary School and Louis Pastor Jr. High. After graduating from Hamilton High School, he attended the University of Southern California where he joined the Tao Epsilon Phi fraternity. Then, he crossed town to attend medical school at UCLA.

Alan started his career with the Public Health Service as a doctor for Peace Corps volunteers. He and wife, Jeanette Helen Rhoads, married in 1966, spent their early years in Hyderabad, India, with stints in Monrovia, Liberia and Kathmandu, Nepal.

After returning to the US, Alan settled in Marin County in ‘73, practicing pulmonology and critical care at Marin General Hospital and Kentfield Hospital. Later, he turned to palliative and hospice care, helping patients and families navigate the end-of-life process with compassion and expertise at Hospice by the Bay and as Medical Director of Care Meridian, where he blended palliative care with pulmonary care.

Alan pursued a variety of interests that brought him great joy. He helped neighbors found The Priory Tennis Club in Kentfield and was an avid sailor of his beloved boat The Jonathan, moored in Sausalito. Alan loved a windy day with friends on the Bay. He fulfilled a lifelong dream of sailing across the Pacific from Hawaii to SF with friends.

Alan was an enthusiast of the Grateful Dead attending their concerts with family and friends. "The more the merrier" was his mantra, both on land and at sea.

Alan’s zest for life extended to his travels, often visiting friends around the world, from New Zealand to India, Nepal and London. He delighted in joining his children and grandchildren in far-flung locales like India and Nepal; Vietnam and Cambodia.

In Marin, Alan hiked Mt. Tamalpais, kept deer out of his roses, served bagels at his kitchen table and sat on his back deck, listening to music, beer in hand, enjoying the company of friends and family.

Alan is remembered as a respected physician and mentor - kind, generous and open-hearted. He loved nothing more than sharing a laugh wherever he found himself.

His family is grateful to the friends who gathered in his final days and to the By the Bay Hospice professionals who helped make his passing exactly as he wished.

Dr. Alan Margolin is survived by his wife Jeanette, daughter Joya and son-in-law Dave, grandchildren Layla and Max, son Daniel and partner David, nieces Robin and Alissa and a multitude of dear family and cherished friends. He is preceded in death by his parents, Isadore and Anna, and his beautiful and whip-smart sister, Gail.

Dr. Margolin's legacy lives on through patient’s loved ones and colleagues whose lives he touched.

A celebration of Alan Margolin’s life will be held in the near future.