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Ricardo J. 'Kim' Alfaro San Francisco, CA QCWA # 11616 Chapter 11 |
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Ricardo Joaquin (Kim) Alfaro, II, born 8/2/1935, in Washington, D.C. joined his Lord & Savior 3/14/2020, in San Francisco.
He was preceded in death by his paternal grandparents, Former President of Panama Ricardo Joaquin Alfaro and Amelia Lyons de Alfaro of Panama, and his maternal grandparents, John Jay Hamilton and Nancy Belle Kerr Hamilton and his parents, Dr. Victor Ricardo Alfaro and Nancy Kerr Hamilton Alfaro all of Washington, D.C.
Kim is survived by his wife Susan Brady Alfaro; sister, singer Nancy Ames (nee Nancy Hamilton Alfaro) and husband, Daniel (Danny) Christopher Ward of Houston, TX and niece/Goddaughter, Nancy Alfaro Rue and husband Ken of Houston, TX; cousins, Ivan Alfaro and wife Silvia of Panama; Ricardo A. Alfaro of Bogota, Colombia; Maria Elena Alfaro de Bennett, Lupita Alfaro de Guerra of Panama; Dr. Colin Whiting Hamilton and wife Bonnie of Virginia Beach, VA; John Craig Hamilton and wife Monica of Chevy Chase, MD; H. Cabell Maddux, III and wife Jane of Marshall, VA;Victoria (Vicki) Weller Crawford and husband Skip of Boyds, MD
Mr. Alfaro graduated from The Landon School in Bethesda, MD in 1953, attended Dartmouth College and, after training at Fort Gordon, GA entered the U.S. Army. Following his stint in the military, he resumed his college education at The University of Virginia.
Kim's first jobs were as assistant to WRC Radio's Willard Scott and Ed Walker on their popular Joy Boys show and as a camera operator cum floor director on Jim Henson's Sam & Friends, later The Muppet Show, at NBC's WRC-TV. He also worked with Dave Garroway, and on the Huntley-Brinkley Report. He began a career in Public Relations for the semiconductor industry in 1966 as a PR master and junior executive at Fairchild Semiconductor with posts in Silicon Valley's Mountain View, CA and Milan, Italy. He transitioned to LSI Logic to become Director of Product PR before joining Tensilica Inc. Soon thereafter, he co-founded The Leapfrog Group, with friends and partners, Geri Hadley and Larry Bender. The company handled Branding, PR, Advertising, and Corporate ID for high tech companies and organizations. Kim was considered an exceptional branding-awareness strategist before retiring in 2004.
A renaissance man with several talents and hobbies, Kim's first teenage hobby was that of ham radio operator. Of specific interest for this pastime was when, in November 1978, he and a colleague were on the air and a signal frequency crossed with theirs, much like a telephone party line, and they found themselves listening to the deranged plottings of Jim Jones in Guyana. Under promise of anonymous cover, Kim notified the FCC and the rest, unfortunately, is history. On a lighter note, Kim was especially adept at fly-fishing, his sport of choice, for which he designed and hand-tied exceptionally intricate lures. Among his favorite escapes for the sport was the Fall River in northeastern Shasta County, CA, a designated Heritage and Wild Trout sanctuary stream. He also had an enviable ink-pen collection, a vast music library, and a carefully curated art collection. Like his father, Kim was a gifted artist and photography buff whose works are treasured by family and friends. An oenophile of note, Kim also collected fine wines from around the world and cherished his friendship with one of Napa's most storied wine makers, Warren Winiarski, founder of Stags Leap Wine Cellars, whose SLV vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon grapes won the Judgment in Paris Blind Tasting in 1976. The two had also been fishing comrades.
With his wife, Susan, Kim was the loving master of many Golden Retrievers, the last being a beloved rescue named Maggie.
The family wishes to thank Kim's dedicated health and critical care providers led by his wife Susan, who attended to his needs ever since his bouts with brain cancer in 2007 and subsequent onsets of Parkinson's, dementia, and the final culprit, Acute Myeloid Leukemia. We are especially grateful to his home care provider, Jason (Jay) Cole, the Hospice by the Bay team, and its Spiritual Support Counselor, Stephen Grafenstine. Our magnified appreciation goes to Kim's legion of friends and neighbors who have been so thoughtful in his waning years. He would especially want to thank his respected friend, restaurateur and lifestyle connoisseur, Doug Biederbeck, whose affection and knowledge he cherished as well as Curbside Café Olivier Perrier, and Chuck Tumminia, his barber, for their unwavering friendship. He would also want to thank fly-fishing companions Byron Richards, Rich Brayton and the others for their hospitable coordination of gratifying catch and release outings over the years. Always appreciative of his "girl friends", Kim had a devoted coterie of same, and among the most special to him were Dagmar Berendes, Joann Sowell and Marcia Huggins Jahncke, each of whom has indelible memories of him. Kim was profoundly grateful for the love and devotion he received from his sister and her husband Danny Ward who he considered his true brother and with whom he shared the joy of wine tasting, gifting, joke telling, and love of music, evidenced by their foraging trips at Amoeba Music whenever he was visiting from Houston.
A parishioner of St. Dominic's Catholic Church, Kim received the Last Rights and his final Communion at home on March 11, 2020. Memorial service plans will be announced privately to family members and friends after the COVID-19 crisis has passed.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to his Goddaughter's non-profit for cancer patients, WIG OUT, https://www.wigout.org, or to NORCAL Golden Retriever Rescue.
Published in San Francisco Chronicle on Mar. 22, 2020