Cecile (Cece) Pickel, an Atherton resident for 50 years, died Oct. 1 at Vi of Palo Alto. She was 89.
Ms. Pichel was a marriage and family counselor, practicing in Menlo Park for more than 40 years.
Born in Brooklyn and raised in New York City, she met her future husband, Julian Pichel. at Penn State. They were married in 1945 and both attended Yale University after their marriage. They then moved to California, where Dr. Pichel started his practice at Palo Alto Medical Clinic.
The Pichels loved traveling, dancing and socializing, say family members. Ms. Pichel wrote plays, stories, and country and western songs; loved bridge; played piano; and rode her daughter’s horses. She walked from her house in Atherton to her Menlo Park office almost every day for decades.
She was deemed a miracle patient at Santa Clara Medical Center, where she was in the burn unit for three months after a house fire in 2004 that took her husband’s life. She was able to resume her previous life as though nothing had changed, say family members.
She is survived by her children, Linda Arata of Woodside, Cathy Cook of Honolulu, and Steve Pichel of Petaluma; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. The family will hold a private memorial service.
