Benjamin Robert Margolis

Benjamin Robert Margolis, Pharm.D., J.D. was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Always an entrepreneur, Ben, at the age of 13, was running the district newspaper. He took his responsibility as the eldest son seriously and served as a proud example to his siblings.

At the top of his high school class at age 17, Ben took a job in Stanley’s Pharmacy. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy in June 1967. He immediately boarded a plane bound for California, becoming a registered pharmacist in 1967.

By January 1969, he received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the USC School of Pharmacy. He went to law school and was admitted to the State Bar of California on June 10, 1986. Ben was one of only a few pharmacist lawyers in the state of California.

He began his career as Pharmacist in Charge at Thrifty Drugs, the highest-volume pharmacy in Los Angeles in 1967. Ben became a Staff Pharmacist at the LAC+USC Medical Center and instructor in pharmacy at the University of Southern California in 1970. He moved to Martin Luther King, Jr., Charles R. Drew Medical Center in January 1970 and in October 1975 he established the pharmacy in the first Comprehensive Health Center in LA County.

On July 1997 he returned to MLK as the Director of Pharmacy Services and Assistant Professor/Lecturer of Medicine at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine until September 1993. From September 1993, he served as the Director of Pharmacy Services at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center until he retired in April 2000.

Ben loved to ride the bike trail at Temescal Canyon, a minimum of 20 miles per day. It was not unusual after a long trek for him to jump on his bike again to ride an additional several miles to the Santa Monica Courthouse to serve as a Judge Pro Tem.

In 1971, Ben asked Lia to marry him, and with the help of his favorite cousin and his beloved aunts, they were married the same day, with his parents in attendance.

Ben and Lia lived in Pacific Palisades for over 38 years and shared more than four wonderful decades together, being blessed with an amazing son.

His wife and son will miss Ben every day, but they will be comforted by the memory of his kind and supportive counsel, boundless love for them both, and the many friends from all walks of life who respected and cherished him.