Philanthropist Dr. Thomas K. Stern, benefactor to Filipinos, dies at 71

Dr. Thomas K. Stern, 1945-2017

SAN FRANCISCO — A longtime benefactor of Filipino children and victims of disaster in Southeast Asia, philanthropist Thomas K. Stern, MD, died unexpectedly on July 15, 2017. He was 71 years old.

Dr. Stern’s wife, Yolanda Ortega Stern, is a prominent Filipino American community leader and entrepreneur who often took him along to various Filipino events in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Born on October 4th, 1945 in Clinton, Minnesota, Dr. Stern graduated from Stanford University and later studied medicine at The University of British Colombia, Faculty of Medicine, Class of 1972.

He opened the Berkeley Family Practice Medical Group, which served more than 50,000 patients over 30 years. He was still serving some of those patients at his concierge medical practice at the time of his death.

With the Interplast organization, Dr. Stern provided reconstructive surgery to hundreds of needy children in Southeast Asia. Encouraged by his wife, he established his own NGO, One World Institute (OWI), to give medical aid, disaster relief and economic support to people in need in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.

He was a Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institute, Stanford University, and as a fellow at the Potomac Foundation. In 2011, he was awarded the Gusi Peace Prize for his work In Service of Humanity.

An accomplished musician and a writer, his novels and CD’s are available online at Amazon.com. In lieu of flowers, friends are requested to purchase one of his music CDs or novels at Amazon.com. All proceeds will go to his non-profit, OWI.

Dr. Stern is survived by his wife, Yolanda, of Berkeley, founder emerita of the Filipino American Chambers of Commerce; daughter, Jordan Adair Stephens and her husband, William Bradford Stephens of San Francisco; daughter, Lindsey Gavarnie-Stern Beallo and her husband Jack Beallo of Oakland; son, Thomas M. Ortega-Stern and his wife Kenia Duarte Stern of Berkeley; stepdaughter, Marjorie Yokota and grandchildren. He is survived by his 95-year-old beloved mother, Genevieve Dalseth Stern, and siblings, Mark, Rick and Robin.

The Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, August 5, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. in St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, 2390 Bush Street, San Francisco, followed by interment at Mountain View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Avenue, Oakland. There will be a reception immediately following the burial at Berkeley City Club, 2315 Durant Avenue, Berkeley.