Obituary: Stephen Lewis Glickman

• Deceased's name:
• Age: 67
• Date: Nov. 3, 2011

Steve passed away peacefully on Nov. 3, 2011 in Stanford Medical Center, after a two and a half year battle with bile duct cancer. His family was by his side.  Steve is survived by the love of his life, his wife Judy, and his two sons from a previous marriage, Jason and Trevor.

Steve was born in Brooklyn, NY to the late Edward Glickman and Helen Ginsberg. He held a B.S. in Physics from Brooklyn College, and a Ph.D. in Physics from Syracuse University. Post-docs were completed at Imperial College in London, England, and at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, NY. In 1978 he was principal scientist at Pfizer Medical Systems working on designing software for the development of the first CT scanners. Steve moved to California in 1984, working as Asst. Professor in the Nuclear Medicine Division of UCLA, later working as Asst. Professor of Medical Physics at UCSF.

Divorced in 1988, Steve moved to Los Gatos with his sons. He formed his own software consulting company, Glickman Technology, Inc. in 1996. He often worked as an expert witness, providing litigation support for some of the biggest names in technology. A consultant for SnapOn Tools since 1992, Steve is listed as co-inventor on 16 U.S. Patents for SnapOn.  

In Los Gatos, Steve became involved in local politics. He served 10 years on the school board, 4 years on the Juvenile Justice Commission, 14 years on the County Committee on School District Organization, (current member), and also a current member of the board of Elected to the Los Gatos Town Council in 2000, he served eight years, (2004 as Mayor), and in 2008 decided not to seek reelection.

Steve was involved in many things, but his activities and interactions with the youth of the town gave him the most pleasure. Every school day morning for 17 years he volunteer-taught a computer science class at . He started advocating for a skate park in 1998, and while on the town council continued to champion the cause. Sadly, the issue, put to a vote in 2008, failed. As Mayor in 2004, believing teens deserved a voice in local government, he was instrumental in the creation of the Los Gatos Youth Commission. In 2005, upon discovering a teen safety program

Another of Steve’s great passions was music, especially Celtic music. For many years he attended Celtic music jam sessions at the local pub. Playing and singing Irish and Scottish folk songs on his Bodhran was one of the great joys in his life.  He and Judy met at Scottish Country Dancing, and at their wedding in 2000, Steve made sure to incorporate as much music and dancing as possible into the wedding celebration.

Bit by the acting bug in 2004 after playing a guest part in the local Shakespeare group, Steve’s acting credits included parts in “Legends of Arthur and Merlin,” “As You Like It,” “The Tempest” “Beauty and the Beast” and  Palo Alto Player’s 2009 production of “The King and I.”   

Steve loved reading, doing the New York Times Sunday crossword, energetic political discussions with close friends, his cat and always first and foremost, his family. He loved to travel, and he and Judy traveled when they could and as often as they could. In April of this year, they made what Steve called “the mother of all road trips” driving cross-country to Cape Cod before turning the car around and heading home.

Steve was a generous man, a man of principles and convictions—a humble man.  Steve’s zest and passion for life, for his family, and for the causes near and dear to his heart, will be remembered for years by those who knew and loved him.   

A celebration of Steve’s life will be held on Saturday, Nov. 19, at 11 a.m. Darling-Fischer Campbell Memorial Chapel, 231 E. Campbell Ave., Campbell, CA with reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations in Steve’s name may be made to , aplaceforteens.org; P.O. 1476, Los Gatos, CA  95031; the Southern Poverty Law Center, or the American Civil Liberties Union.