Michael H. Gollub



 Michael and Helene at the wedding of their daughter

I have healed, cured, saved lives and made people happy.

My wife and children are my best friends and proudest accomplishments.

I have been successful in enjoying little pleasures each day, and am content with my life.

This sounds like an obituary, but I hope it isn't delivered for a long time.  I am having too much fun now, dealing with the challenges of my pediatric practice and everyday events, and looking forward to whatever comes next.

Since Pomona, which I left in 1961 to attend UCSF Med School and avoid Comps, (anything to avoid Comps!), I tried my hardest to be a tribute to Christian civilization, but have not always succeeded.

I married Helene at the end of my internship.  After a year of residency, we spent the summer driving through Europe, and then went on active duty in the Strategic Air Command. (You all could sleep safely knowing I was on watch, even as a pediatrician.) The Air Force was a wonderful professional experience as well as a two-year vacation in upstate New York, with lots of time for traveling throughout New England, antiquing, and enjoying one winter in the Cold.  We tolerated the second winter since we knew we were to return to California if we survived. Memories of the pain of frozen toes thawing in the warming hut while skiing at Lake Placid will remain forever.

After completing my residency, we settled in Thousand Oaks, CA, where we lived happily ever after. I enjoy reading, gardening, tennis, and selected people. I am the Ruler Supreme and Great Grandiose Dictator for Life of my four person pediatric practice. I have served in various positions and done some good stuff in the community, hospital and American Academy of Pediatrics. It is hard to speak about oneself without sounding self-important, but I am the only person I know who has run over a peacock (unintentionally) and killed a gopher in hand-to-hand combat (intentionally). Helene is a Resource Teacher in the Special Education Department of her school district, and was the first “Teacher of the Year” when they instituted the award.  Both of our children graduated from Oxy (one of my failings).  Jennifer is a psychologist working in the Chronic Pain Clinic at Kaiser in San Francisco.  Her husband, Mike, is a lawyer with an international law firm in San Francisco.  They have traveled extensively in Russia, Ukraine and Western Europe, and are ready to go anywhere at the drop of a ticket. Matt graduated and then decided to become a doctor, so he took the then new PostBaccalaureate Pre-Med program at Scripps, becoming, to my knowledge, the first male Scrippsy.  I am so proud!  He is now in the second year of a Pediatric residency at UCLA and will hopefully join my practice when he finishes.  We are truly proud of all of them.  And our dog, Judy, too.

Life is good; we enjoy our family, friends and work, and are looking forward to seeing old (older?) friends at the reunion.