Frank J. Kockritz, Patron of Medicine, Arts, Dies at 78

Frank J. Kockritz, a retired partner in a San Diego law firm and longtime patron of medicine and the arts, died Wednesday at his La Jolla home after a lengthy illness. He was 78.

No services are planned for Kockritz who had requested that his body be donated to medical science, family friend Doug Barrancotto said.

Born in Berkeley in 1912, Kockritz attended the University of California, Berkeley and was graduated from Harvard University School of Law at the age of 24. He practiced with Pilsbury, Madison & Sutro in San Francisco, before leaving to serve in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He joined the San Diego law firm of Gray, Cary, Ames & Frye in 1947.

Kockritz, with his wife, Margaret Black (Susie) Kockritz, who died in 1988, is also remembered for his civic leadership, Barrancotto said. He was a benefactor of the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation, the San Diego Museum of Art, the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla and numerous other community organizations.

Kockritz was involved with the clinic for more than 30 years, said Dave Mitchell, vice president for development.

“He was one of those wonderful trustees who supported the goals of the clinic in his bequests without restrictions,” Mitchell said.

“Frank, as a trustee for the San Diego Museum of Art, and Susie as a trustee for the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, supported the visual arts in San Diego in a very important way,” said Anne Farrell, development director at the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art.

“They were both always very interested in our exhibitions and particularly the educational lecture programs we sponsored on various contemporary issues and ideas. They were interested in exhibitions of young and new artists. They were very interested in new ideas of all kinds, and they always came to everything at the museum. We miss them very much.”

As a past trustee and president of the museum from 1977-79, “Frank was a willing and enthusiastic partner in the growth and development of the museum,” said Steven L. Brezzo, director of the San Diego Museum of Art.

“There are many types of art enthusiasts. Connoisseurs come in all styles and attitudes but Frank was a rare and unique museum patron--a gentleman, an inquisitive and open observer and a true devotee of the aesthetic.”

Kockritz was also a past trustee of the philanthropic Timken-Sturgis Foundation, the Combined Business and Arts Council of San Diego and the Central City Assn. He was a member of the Old Globe Theatre, San Diego Opera Assn. and the Bohemian Club, and was active in the Traveler’s Aid Society, Aardvarks, the Rotary Club, the UC San Diego Chancellor’s Associates and the Harvard Law School Assn.

Kockritz is survived by his sister, Frances Clayton; his nephew, Hubert M. Walker Jr.; Walker’s wife, Donna Walker, and a grand-nephew, Hubert Walker III, all of Pasadena.

The family suggests that memorial contributions be made to Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation or to the San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla.