Sonja "Sally" Newhouse

Sonja "Sally" Newhouse Dec. 2, 1911 - Aug. 8, 2009 Sonja "Sally" Newhouse had a beautiful face and spirit, a zest for life, a sense of fashion, a need for exercise, and a deep religious conviction. She packaged all of this into 97 years of living before her Aug. 8 death at Woodside Care Home, where she lived the last four years. She passed away peacefully, leaving behind family, friends and former colleagues who loved her smile, her inner-strength, her courage, and her joie de vivre. She lived to dance, to hit a golf ball, to hold a new grandchild, and to uphold her Jewish heritage. Born in Lodz, Poland, she came to San Francisco in 1932 after being sent for by her father, who had started a second family in a new country. That same year, she met and married Al Newhouse, himself a Polish immigrant and a garment worker. They moved from San Francisco to Menlo Park in the mid-1930s after her husband bought a Palo Alto clothing store, Stanford Clothing, that was popular with Stanford students. After raising three children, "Sally" (her husband had "Americanized" her from her birth name of Sonja) went to work at Livingston's clothing store in the Stanford Shopping Center, selling mostly maternity wear. After the store went out of business, she was a hostess at L'Omelette's Restaurant before working Sundays at her daughter's women's boutique, Phyllis, in Palo Alto even though she was approaching 80. Sally was always on the move, taking up golf in her 50s, walking every day, exercising regularly, and dancing with her husband Saturday nights at the Casino night club in Belmont. Al died in 1980 after nearly 48 years of marriage. They were predeceased in 1970 by son Robert Newhouse, who lost his life to cancer at 30. Sally's sister and their mother, who remained in Poland, were victims of the Holocaust. Sally is survived by daughter Phyllis Newhouse of Menlo Park; son Dave (Patsy) Newhouse of Oakland; and grandsons Chad Newhouse of San Francisco, Casey Newhouse of Seattle, and Robby Newhouse. The family would like to thank Woodside Care Home for making Sally's final years so comfortable. She will be buried Thursday alongside her husband at Eternal Home Cemetery in Colma.