email from his sons, February 22, 2016:

We are profoundly sorry to report that Sy left this world early Thursday morning, February 18, 2016. We were holding his hands when he peacefully passed away. On Wednesday, he slipped and fell and hit his head. The paramedics rushed him to the hospital where the doctors pronounced that his prognosis was grim.

In January, we took him to the hospital after he had swelling of the hands and feet, talked about shortness of breath, and felt a constriction in the chest. After 10 days in the hospital, he was released. While he initially rallied, he then started to weaken. Although a heart ailment was suspected, no definitive condition was identified, either at the hospital or with follow-up tests.

Sy lived a full and happy life of over 92 years. For most of it, he was physically active. He was mentally keen to the end. And his eyes were better than ours!

He was married for over 50 years to the love of his life, Glorye, who left this world in 2008. Together, they had two sons.

Sy was a perfect example of the "Greatest Generation." He was born in Chicago during the Capone era. His family struggled during the depression. He was posted to India during the Second World War. But like many of this fraternity, he thrived during the post-war years.

Having seen sunny California while with the military, he returned after receiving a Masters' in Education from the University of Illinois. He worked as a high-school teacher, in training for aerospace companies, and most significantly, for over 30 years at Hewlett-Packard in training and marketing positions. Wherever he was employed, people always came first.

While Chicago bred, he considered the Town of Los Gatos (San Francisco Area/Silicon Valley) his home. There, he liked to walk on its hilly streets, shop at its stores, and eat at its restaurants. Many people greeted him by name and he would not hesitate to have long friendly conversations with them.

We are not having a funeral. Instead we ask that you enjoy the things he enjoyed. Hug your loved ones. Play with your pet. Drink a glass of wine or a Martini. Barbeque and eat a big steak. End the meal with ice cream or berries. Drink an espresso. Play some Dixieland or classical music. See a play or a movie. Hike a trail at a National Park. Putter in the garden. Cheer on the San Francisco Giants baseball team.

And above all, travel and see the world. Seek adventure. For, surely, he will be doing that in the realm beyond.

With heavy hearts, we must move forward without Sy's presence. But we will always remember him in spirit. And as with our mom, he shall be in our thoughts every day.

I met Sy at Hewlett-Packard in the Way-Back-When. My first memories of our contact was through the Executive Briefing Center in Cupertino (now part of the foundation of the Apple 'flying saucer headquarters building). I'd been doing presentations for the Unix Server (HP 9000) product line, and Sy hosted a lot of "customer visits" by customers from the Far East.

Sy was always The Perfect Gentleman in my experience. A Truly Gentle Man and very knowledgeable about the customs and cultures of the guests he hosted for those visits. I learned a ton of things about 'how to behave in the presence of...' people from different countries I might never ever visit in person.

Sy also loved golf, as did many of my other HP friends, and we got to go out to the links many times. Sy had some physical issues, like back pains that made his swing amazing to watch. It looked so awkward, but he did get the ball down the fairway, often closer to the middle than my shots, and her certainly loved being out in the Silicon Valley weather and hanging with our golfing buddies. There's at least one 'funny' story I won't tell here, but hit me with a chocolate martini before dinner and I'll recount it.

Sy provided me with some of my best and favorite experiences while I was at HP, and I was happy and proud that our email conversations continued pretty much right up to his passing, fourteen or so years after I left HP! It was always a treat to send him some political or economic clipping and hear his honest, forthright opinion or comments come back from him.

That's just one of the many aspects of Sy I'll be missing tremendously.