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Elizabeth Mohun Obituary

Elizabeth Ann ("Betty") Ebright Mohun Redoubtable matriarch of a family tracing its San Francisco roots to the mid-nineteenth century, died peacefully at home in Novato, California on April 17 at the ripe old age of 101. Born September 27, 1908 in San Francisco, Betty was the second of 2 daughters born to Dr. George Elliott Ebright and Susan Curl Ebright. Her beloved mother, Susan, died in 1910 of pericarditis, leaving her father to raise Betty and her sister, Miriam. Dr. Ebright was a prominent physician who served as President of the California State Board of Health for many years during and after World War I. His father, Hiram Ebright, was an early San Francisco pioneer who arrived in the city in about 1870, supervised construction of the Pilarcitos Dam, built from 1867-1874 as part of the Crystal Springs watershed, then served as Keeper of Pilarcitos Reservoir from 1875-1915. He, his wife Tillie and their children resided in a ranch home he built in a glade near the reservoir. It was to this property that Betty's parents and sister evacuated on the night of April 18, 1906, as the fires that would consume their home advanced. Upon his wife's death, Dr. Ebright sent Betty and Miriam to Menlo Park to be educated by the Religious of the Sacred Heart; they resided there until returning to San Francisco upon their father's remarriage in 1918. Betty lived the remaining years of her childhood at 2662 Vallejo St., attending Miss Burke's school in San Francisco, then boarding at Miss Ransom and Miss Bridges School for Girls in Piedmont for high school. She, Miriam and, later, their adored stepbrother, Elliott, spent childhood summers living at Lake Pilarcitos, enjoying a 23,000 acre playground in splendid isolation. They also traveled by wagon to spend weeks each summer at Cascade Ranch, the Tahoe home of their uncle and aunt, Harold Ebright and Katherine Brigham Ebright, at Emerald Bay. Betty matriculated to the inaugural class of Scripps College for women in Claremont in 1926, then transferred to UC Berkeley after her first year and graduated from Cal in 1930. At her father's insistence, she then obtained a teaching credential in San Francisco. In the early 1930s, she met Robert Durkee, a dashing if mercurial City native who had dropped out of Stanford to go into business. Dr. Ebright would not grant consent, so Betty and Bob promptly eloped and settled on 6th & Lake. They had 2 sons and a daughter, but Bob Durkee struggled with alcoholism and Betty had to leave him in 1944 to become a single mother. Her father agreed to provide for the children's education, but told her that she would otherwise need to support herself. Thanks to her credential, she found work quickly and relocated to Palo Alto to begin a 25-year career teaching Kindergarten at Encinal Elementary in Atherton. Betty's sons were sent to Bellarmine in San Jose, and her daughter to Sacred Heart Menlo. In about 1950, she became reacquainted with her childhood friend, Farley Mohun, who had grown up not far from her at 101 Maple. They married in 1952 and enjoyed more than 35 happy years together until Farley's death in 1988. The children's love and esteem for Farley was epitomized by the boys' decision as young adults in 1954 to be adopted by him and take his name. Following Farley's death, Betty's children built a home for her on the ranch where her son and daughter-in-law were raising their 7 children. Betty lived there very happily for nearly 25 years. Blessed with robust health, she maintained her independence nearly to the last, yet was surrounded by the love of her large family. In a sense, Betty lived several lives: a privileged daughter in a stratified San Francisco society; a rebellious coed in the age of F. Scott Fitzgerald; a single mother struggling to raise 3 children; a happily married educator; a retiree living quietly in the hills of Marin County; a doting great-grandmother and daily communicant. Endowed with flinty resolve, a strong faith, a loving family and treasured friendships (particularly with her lifelong friend, Virginia Baker), she felt greatly blessed. She was predeceased by her parents; her first husband, Robert Durkee; her second husband, Farley Mohun; her sister, Miriam Ebright Doe; her half-brother, Elliott Ebright; and her sons, Robert Thornton Mohun and Dr. George Ebright Mohun. She is survived by her daughter, Ann Elizabeth Young; her daughter-in-law, Susan Mohun, who cared for Betty with abundant love in Betty's final years; 13 grandchildren; and 40 great-grand children. A rosary service was held on April 23, and Betty's funeral mass celebrated on April 24 at Our Lady of Loretto Catholic Church in Novato. Requiescat in pace.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by San Francisco Chronicle on May 2, 2010.

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