Benjamin L. Gross A native San Franciscan, psychiatrist and popular professor of literature at USF's Fromm Institute, died at home in Sebastopol April 17, at age 84. He was born March 1, 1922 to Polish Jewish immigrant parents and lived in the Fillmore before moving to the Richmond District where he attended Argonne and Presidio schools. He graduated from Lowell in 1938, UC Berkeley in 1942 and UC Medical School in 1946. He spent two years in Europe with the Public Health Service before opening his practice.

Ben was a lover of James Joyce and chess, in which he won the US Amateur Senior Championship in 1989. His survivors include his wife of 61 years, Anita; sister, Ruth Hipshman; son, Ted and his wife Deborah; and two grandchildren. In lieu of a service, Ben wanted his friends to listen to one of his favorite pieces of music, "Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten" by Arvo Pärt.

This obituary was published in the San Francisco Chronicle on 4/24/2006.