Luis Enrique Cebrian

Luis Enrique Cebrian Died on Monday March 3, 2008, after a lengthy and heroic 14 year battle with ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease. Luis Enrique Cebrian was born in Madrid on May 4, 1933 to Louis de Laveaga Cebrian and Katharine Crofton Cebrian, Americans residing in Spain at the time. Because they were known royalists, during the unrest leading up to the Spanish Civil War, they were targeted by the Communist Republicans who controlled Madrid. At one time while staying in a hotel they were occasionally machine-gunned; Luis and his brother were placed in a bathtub with a mattress over them. They were rescued by the German Embassy and sent to San Francisco. His parents joined them later in the USA. He grew up in Napa and San Francisco where they had homes. He attended school in St. Helena and boarding schools in Peru, Portland and Canada. He served two years in the army and then returned to Spain where he completed his medical studies using the GI Bill of Rights. He graduated with honors in 1962 and worked for three years in the Madrid University hospital where he instituted a peritoneal dialysis unit. During this time, he also worked on a cruise ship for several months of the year cruising between England and the Caribbean. His philosophy was always that he would enjoy life while his body was still young, instead of waiting until he retired old and decrepit. So he moved to London (which was at that time swinging London). He improved his medical knowledge by taking training jobs in London teaching hospitals for 7-8 months of the year. He studied geriatrics where geriatrics really started at the West London Hospital, long before it became fashionable. The rest of the year he traveled. He said that he had swum in all seven oceans and seen at least some of each of the five continents. During this time, he met his wife, Valerie, in 1971 on Mykonos, a Greek island where he had a disastrous investment in a nightclub, which ended in a Greek lawsuit. He always said it was a great investment, as he learned about unscrupulous partners and met his wife. He returned to the United States in 1981 to practice family medicine and geriatrics in Chico until forced to retire by Lou Gehrig's disease (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) in 1998. During this time, never one to complain about the way ALS ravaged his body, he sought to counsel others suffering the same fate. He was most generous of heart and mind and though in a wheelchair for the last eight years he never let that deter him from traveling several times to Europe. He is survived by his wife of 29 years, Valerie; brother-in-law, Ian Hamer and his wife Judy; nephew, Christian Cebrian and his wife Amy; nieces, Cairo Gregor and her husband Michael, and Morgan Grossman and family; a nephew in Germany, Jose Cebrian and his wife Brigitte; and two nephews in England, Carl and his wife Kate, and Ross Homer. Also survived by many loyal friends who have helped him in various ways, with their love, laughter and support. A Visitation will be held Thursday, March 6th, 5-8PM at Bidwell Chapel followed by a Mass of Christian burial on Friday, March 7th, 10:30AM at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Chico.