LeeAnna Norris Friedman

1942 - 2022

LeeAnna Norris Friedman
September 3, 1942 - October 2, 2022
LeeAnna "Lee" Norris Friedman died peacefully, surrounded by loving friends, at San Francisco's Kaiser Hospital after a brief medical emergency.
Born in Hollywood, California, LeeAnna was the only child of Ralph V. Norris a Montana native and Bertha Fedje Norris of North Dakota. LeeAnna received her BA and MA degrees in English Literature at San Francisco State University where in the early 1960s she was part of a close-knit group of young creative writers and bio scientists-to-be. She, Barry Roth, David Rollison, Joan Grant, and the late Gunder Hefta of this group would remain close friends for life.
LeeAnna married Marvin W. Friedman on November 23, 1971. Her father, a judge in Tuolumne County, California officiated. Marvin and LeeAnna would be happily married for 49 years, until Marvin's death on February 5, 2021.
LeeAnna was passionate about the natural world and never met a creature she didn't revere for its place in nature's scheme. Her garden was an artistic and environmental triumph that she perfected for over 40 years. She had a feisty personality, an innate curiosity spanning a wide range of interests, and a dazzling and always testing intellect. Her sense of humor and irony endeared her to the many who loved and appreciated her.
Over the years, she taught classics and literature part-time at SF State and Golden Gate University. As an ESL instructor she routinely presented unconventional lessons that engaged her students. She volunteered for years with the Lamplighters in the costume department where her ingenuity with a needle often ensured a confident performance. LeeAnna was a professional pastry cook, a skill she continued and expanded on in her home kitchen. She also served as a docent at the San Francisco Botanical Garden where her tailored tours for novice young people captured their imaginations and enlarged their understanding. She was a watercolor painter who favored botanical illustrations and works of whimsy.
LeeAnna resided in San Francisco and Berkeley her entire adult life, although she dreamed of a rural life. She was a loyal friend, enjoyed visiting friends, generous lunch or dinner host, conversationalist, email correspondent and animal lover-the latter, of late, particularly respecting her beloved cat Lulu.
LeeAnna was a prodigious reader, a specialist in classics and literature, and possessed a remarkably large working vocabulary. Both her literary allusions and her word choices, in correspondence or conversation, could send friends to the Web or Wikipedia for a little help. Still, she wore her erudition lightly.
LeeAnna had an effervescent, upbeat, and lively manner-often graced with an irrepressible smile, grin, and laughter. The trials of a not always easy childhood and adolescence also lent her persona warm empathy and understanding.
Along with her stepson Benjamin, LeeAnna is survived by a bevy of friends, neighbors, cousins, acquaintances and correspondents who will miss her presence very much. Donations in memory of LeeAnna may be made to the ACLU, San Francisco SPCA, or the Sierra Club. A memorial gathering is in the planning stage.