Erin Williams Hyman: Erin Williams Hyman, incomparable and beloved wife, daughter, mother, sister and friend, died on Sept. 18 in her home surrounded by her family. Erin lived and loved fully and will always be in our hearts. She is survived by her husband, Rabbi Micah Hyman; her beautiful sons, Nathan and Theo; her parents, Sidney and Erik Williams of Palm Springs; and her brother, Brian Williams (and his wife, Kelly). Erin was 42.
Born and raised in Palm Springs, Erin attended UC Berkeley for her undergraduate studies, earned a doctorate degree in comparative literature at UCLA and was a post-doctoral fellow at Cornell University.
Erin was a writer and editor. Her cultural commentary on subjects from wine to Oscar Wilde can be found in journals, essay collections and blogs. She edited several books, including “Backyard Oasis: The Swimming Pool in Southern California Photography, 1945-1982” and “An Eloquent Modernist: E. Stewart Williams, Architect,” and contributed to a forthcoming book on the history of architectural installations. In addition, she edited books for architects such as Thom Mayne and Diller Scofidio Renfro.
In 2012, after being diagnosed with cancer, Erin created the incredibly insightful and eloquent blog, B’Matzav, for “reflection on healing, thriving, and parenting with breast cancer, from a Jewish perspective.” There, Erin shared intimate thoughts and words of wisdom.
Erin was president of the Bay Area Young Survivors (BAYS) group and edited “The Day My Nipple Fell Off and Other Stories of Survival, Solidarity, and Sass: A BAYS Anthology,” chronicling the experiences of young women with breast cancer from diagnosis, through treatment, and living in the “new normal.”
Before residing in San Francisco, Erin lived in Los Angeles, where she met and married Micah in 2002, joining together in a true, deep love. In 2003, they moved to Paris for her studies, and, in 2004, moved back to Santa Monica, where their first son, Nathan, was born. From there, they went to Ithaca, N.Y., where Erin held a post-doctoral position at Cornell, and then moved to San Francisco, where Theo was born. Erin was blessed to be surrounded by family and many old and new friends, as well as the loving community of Beth Sholom, where Micah was the rabbi for seven years.
Erin was truly able to enjoy her last months in Morro Bay — slowing down time, spending it with her family and a steady flow of visitors, seeing the beach from her window, and on good days, focusing on food and farmers markets. Above all, she understood and maintained the value in living a life well lived.
— Jill Lindenbaum
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Norman Schroeder died July 22 at 97. Survived by wife Rosemarie; sons Robert, Larry, Alan; daughters Joy, Jeanne, Nancy; brother Simon; sister Elsie Finch; 3 nieces; 8 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren. Chevra Kadisha
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