Robert W. Surber's Obituary
Robert W. Surber
After battling cancer, Robert passed away at the age of 71 in Kailua, Hawaii during the early morning of June 27, with the loving support of his family and his wife Diane by his side.
Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Robert earned degrees from Purdue University of Wisconsin.
He settled in San Francisco in 1971, beginning a long career serving the people of the City and County of San Francisco as a social worker, as a leader in public mental health care policy and planning, as the chief Psychiatric Social Worker at San Francisco General Hospital and as the Deputy Chief of the Department of Psychiatry for community services.
Robert further served the San Francisco community as an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of California, San Francisco teaching social work and mental health students, while also participating in research and writing, including editing a text book on clinical case management.
After retiring, Robert continued to support the Bay Area mental health community as a consultant for Health and Human Services. This work extended to Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe where he had many associates and colleagues.
Moving to Hilo, Hawaii, in 2006, he realized his dream of living in “warm on warm:” warm weather on warm water.
Robert loved adventure and spent many months traveling with his wife Diane to Southeast Asia, Japan, Europe and India. Until his death, he consulted with local Hawaiian mental health agencies to improve quality of services; especially for the seriously and persistently mentally ill and the homeless.
Robert is survived by his wife, Diane Robinson (Hawaii); siblings, Richard and Ruthann (Indianapolis); children, Robert Jr. (San Francisco and Oslo), Geir Alexander (Oslo), Justin (San Francisco), Christine (San Francisco); grandchildren, Mina, Mia, Mathilde, and Holly.
All friends and colleagues are invited to celebrate his life on Sunday, July 24, 2016 from 4:00 – 7:00 p.m., at Cala Restaurant located at, 149 Fell Street, San Francisco, California.
Hosted by the family of Robert W. Surber
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the American Cancer Society.
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