When asked about the secret to her long life, Hilda Richards once said, “I am definitely an optimist, and I think that has helped me very much.” Hilda, a true gem of our community, passed away this April at the age of 104. A resident of San Francisco for more than 84 years, Hilda was a survivor of the Holocaust. She arrived in San Francisco from Germany in 1938 with just $10, joining her sister, who had emigrated two years prior. The sisters remained close throughout their lives. Known for her joie de vivre, Hilda was part of the fabric… Read More

Mr. Schneider z’l sat for this interview in 2022. May his memory be for a blessing. Yvonne z’l and Ernest Schneider wed in Homewood Terrace’s synagogue in 1951, surrounded by friends they made in the children’s home. Ernest Schneider was six years old when his widowed mother, unable to make ends meet during the Great Depression, brought him to live at Homewood Terrace on San Francisco’s Ocean Avenue. The campus for children in need would become his cherished home, where he would make lifelong friends, deepen his connection with his family’s Jewish heritage, and even meet the love of his… Read More

The S. Portia Steele Memorial Scholarship for Jewish Women provides an annual scholarship for qualified Jewish women pursuing an academic degree in creative writing, English, or journalism. When Portia Steele died in 2005 her husband, Dennis Steele, chose to memorialize his beloved friend and wife of 40 years by establishing a named continuity fund at JFCS in her honor. During her writing career in Burlingame, California, Portia was the founder and instructor of Women on Writing©, a seminar for published writers sponsored by the Daly City Senior Center. Between 1992 and 2002, as the Center’s facilitator, she helped scores of… Read More

The Rabin Family Memorial Endowment Fund will help wherever the community’s needs are the greatest, today and in the years to come. The Rabin family originally established their named continuity fund in 2004 in loving memory of their mother, Anne Simon Rabin.  When Anne’s daughter Cathy died in 2007, the fund’s name and description were modified to memorialize her as well. Anne Simon was born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in 1919. Her first husband, Murray Weiss, died during World War II, leaving Anne with an infant daughter. Showing remarkable courage, Anne took her daughter cross-country to California and started… Read More

Annual distributions from the fund are used to provide practical and spiritual support for people with HIV/AIDS and their family members, thereby celebrating the legacy of generosity which Robert Block consistently demonstrated throughout his own lifetime. Richard Boyle established the Robert Block Memorial Endowment Fund in loving memory of his life partner, Robert, who served as JFCS’ Assistant Controller from 1988 until his death in 1998. Richard and Robert first met in 1970 and began a 28-year partnership filled with travel to far-flung locales. They enjoyed the company of friends and family and supported the arts and the political and… Read More

Harvey and Shelley Davis z’l—May their memories be for a blessing. The Isaiah Buffett-Davis Memorial Fund, created and named in loving memory of Shelley Davis’s stillborn grandson, provides assistance—both financial and practical—to at-risk pregnant women and their families. This support may include services such as counseling and help with household tasks, including cooking, cleaning and shopping, and childcare. Shelley Davis used the occasion of her birthday in 1999 to establish a named continuity fund in memory of her beloved grandson, Isaiah Buffett-Davis, who had recently been stillborn. Noting that the Chinese character for “crisis” is also the character for “opportunity,”… Read More