Lila Rich

1933 - 2025

Lila Rich
09/12/1933 - 02/16/2025
Lila passed away peacefully at home on February 16, at the age of 91.
Born Lila Joan Sankowich to Sam and Sarah Sankowich, Lila was a second generation San Franciscan who grew up in the Sea Cliff neighborhood and spent most of her life in the city she loved. She graduated from Washington High School and then attended U.C. Berkeley, which she graduated from in 1955, a phi beta kappa and member of the Torch and Shield Society. In 1956, she married Neville Rich, and together they raised four children in the Jordan Park neighborhood of San Francisco.
Lila was a strong proponent of public education and insisted her children go to public school, even as bussing was initiated and others fled the system. After her children were all in school, Lila went back to school herself to get her teaching credential, and was a substitute teacher in San Francisco public schools for a number of years before focusing her time as a commercial property manager. Throughout her entire life, well into her seventies, Lila was always giving back to the community, volunteering for organizations such as the PTA, Hadassah, Israel Bonds, Temple Emanu-El and U.C. Berkeley, where she served on the Foundation Board, the Alumni Association Board and as Class of '55 Reunion Chair. A true Cal fan, she rarely missed a Big Game, always decked out in blue and gold.
Lila cared dearly for, and stayed connected to, her large group of close friends, some of whom date back to Alamo Elementary School. She gave so much to, and received such support from, her lifelong girlfriends over the decades. Most of all, though, family was her first priority. Lila took great joy in seeing her children and grandchildren grow up – often visiting those that moved away and taking all the grandchildren to Washington, DC in their tween years. Not only was she the strong and proud matriarch of her immediate family, but she also kept the larger Sankowich clan together after her mother's death, hosting most extended family gatherings and maintaining Jewish traditions. Lila was famous for her matzo balls and homemade gefilte fish but most of all – her leftovers, and the red, white and blue Jello for 4th of July in Sonoma.
Neville and Lila were married for 64 years before his passing in 2020. Lila was preceded in death by her brother Lloyd and sister-in-law Antoinette. She is survived by her brother Lee, children Edward (Sharon), Andrew (Michelle), Juli (Michael) and Dan (Abbie), nephew Matt (Lisa), daughter-in-law Laurie Miller, her eleven grandchildren: Hannah, Becca, Kellan, Gregory, Nicole, James, Maya, Davis, Elana, Carly and Josh, as well as four great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. She was loved dearly by her family and will be missed by all whose lives she touched.
If you wish to honor Lila's memory with a donation, please consider the Rich Family Achievement Award at UC Berkeley (fund W7962) or the charity of your choice.