Sadie Espar
Nov. 17, 1922-Aug. 9, 2018
Palo Alto, California

Sadie died peacefully three months shy of her 96th birthday after a brief illness. She touched many lives. She will be deeply missed.

Sadie was the first in her family born in the U.S. (Detroit) and the first to go to college, earning a bachelor's degree in Sociology from Wayne University (now Wayne State). She married Julian Espar (1919-2004) barely a month after Pearl Harbor. They spent much of the wartime at Wright Field in Ohio (now Wright-Patterson AFB) where the first of their two sons was born.

Back in Detroit, Sadie embraced mothering with post-war, 1950s gusto. She was a guiding force in progressive nursery schools and multi-cultural family groups. And when her sons were grown, she went back to college (University of Michigan) for a master's in Library Science, then worked as a librarian in Detroit for 10 years before moving to Marina del Rey with her husband in 1978.

Sadie's Jewish heritage and identity also shaped her life. She studied Torah and Talmud and supported many Jewish causes with her time and talents. While in the Marina, she became involved in a Yiddish language club, an interest she pursued avidly after moving to Palo Alto in 1988.

Sadie always delighted in opera, the symphony, theater and the visual arts. She volunteered at the Palo Alto Art Center for many years and was an influential member of the Palo Alto JCC and the Moldaw Family Residences, where she lived since its inception in 2009.

Advancing age and illness slowed her down in her last few years, but she held onto her sense of humor and of wonder, and cherished the love of those around her to the last. She leaves her sons, David Espar (Sharon Gillette) of Palo Alto, and Tim Espar (Becky Rose) of Fort Mill, SC; her three grandchildren – Michael Espar (Christina Case), Amber Espar, and Jennifer Weaver, and four great-grandchildren – Addyson & Maggie Weaver and Dean & Clark Case Espar.

She was a shining light...