Alfred M. Kaufman

Alfred Michael Kaufman, a long time resident of Livermore, California, and most recently of North Las Vegas, Nevada, died Jan. 4. He was 79.

Kaufman was born July 23, 1936 in Munich, Germany to Walter and Elsie Kaufman. He and his parents emigrated to the United States in 1940 to escape the perils of Nazism. He was raised in Boston, Massachusetts and matriculated from Boston Latin and Harvard University and earned a doctorate in theoretical physics from Brandeis University.

He relocated to California and raised three children with his first wife, Kathy. During this time he worked primarily for Lockheed and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

In 1981, he met Marla in Livermore who became his wife and ultimate life partner. He helped her raise a family, creating a new loving home.

Kaufman retired from his Lab work in 2000 moving to Rio Vista. Subsequently, he moved to Arkansas and ultimately to Las Vegas where he spent the last six years.

During his life travels, Kaufman touched many lives. His easy and open manner enabled him to make fast friends with anyone he encountered, no matter the social circle, actual or virtual. Among his lifelong interests were music making (violin with string quartets, music camps and symphony), computing, travel and life-long learning. He also volunteered for many years as treasurer for Congregation Beth Emek and in retirement set up and taught computer skills classes to senior citizens. Later, after losing his mobility, he dove headlong into social media to renew old friendships, create new ones and even took up learning new languages.

Kaufman is survived by his loving wife Marla; his brother Bruce; children Sam, Amy (Falk), Joshua, Kimberly (Clark) and Kraig (Palmer); nephews Ricky, Bryan and Jimmy; and grandchildren Kyle (Christensen), Shaina (Falk), Shoshana (Falk), TJ (Poston) and Trevor (Poston).

A memorial service was held Jan. 8 in North Las Vegas. Memorial donations can be made in his name to the American Diabetes Association.