Sue Siegel

1922 - 2021

Sue Joan Siegel

Sue Joan Siegel (Levy) was born in the small town of Landau, located in the heart of the German wine country on September 25th, 1922.
Sue passed peacefully at home surrounded by her family on September 8th, 2021, two weeks short of her 99th Birthday. Sue lived a long, remarkable, life fully and positively engaged till the end.
Emigrating from Nazi Germany in 1938 aboard the vessel New Amsterdam (due in large part to the foresight of her brother Ernest Landy). Sue lived with relatives in Buffalo, NY starting high school with limited English but graduating with her class two years later. Always artistic and with a keen aesthetic eye she moved to Manhattan to attend the McDowell School of Design in 1941. A short time later Sue's mother Erna Levy was able to join her and Ernest in New York after a harrowing journey aboard the vessel SS St. Louis of the film "Voyage of the Damned".
In 1947 Sue was hired as a designer by the San Francisco based clothing manufacturer Koret of California and moved to San Francisco along with Erna.
It was in San Francisco attending a Chanukah party where she met her future husband William Siegel. Incredibly they soon discovered William was from the same town of Landau and that they had known each other as children. William was soon smitten and discovering their shared experiences as Holocaust refugees they married a year later on November 27th, 1949.
They settled in Berkeley raising their young family of three children until in 1961 William was tragically diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Soon William was unable to continue working and Sue was confronted with having to support her young family on her own. Never one to sit and wring her hands Sue called on her skills as a designer and set about creating a line of after swim wear on her kitchen table and cold calling local buyers at Roos Atkins, I. Magnin's, and Grodin's Dept. Stores among others. At one point a buyer suggested that Sue try making pants as more of their customers were entering the workforce and women's traditional dress codes were starting to change, their customers were requesting easy care, well-made pants, at an affordable price. Soon Sue was supplying stores with her pants under the "Pantasia" and later the Joan Walters labels. She soon outgrew her small Mission St. loft and moved to larger quarters. Sue thrived in her role as designer and CEO while simultaneously caring for her three kids and increasingly ill husband. William succumbed to MS in August 1974 and Sue moved from her Berkeley house to San Francisco. A year later Sue met Walter Rubin whom she had known from her Koret years and with Walter's help slowly began a new chapter in her life. They lived very happily together until Walter passed in May1994.
Sue continued to run her business until "retiring" at age 65. However, Sue's work was not yet finished and soon in honor of her late husband William founded a non-profit called Hearth Homes Community Building. Hearth's mission was to partner with local, non-profit developers to build affordable, accessible, housing and "community" for people of all abilities utilizing the principles of Universal (accessible) Design.
Hearth Homes was responsible for the development of the nation's first universally designed, affordable housing project located in Berkeley, CA called University Neighborhood Apartments or UNA.
Sue devoted many hours to various other worthy causes including the Center for Attitudinal Healing in Marin several Hospice organizations and the SF Jewish Family and Children's Services.
Soon after Walter passed Sue moved to North Beach loving the vibrant neighborhood, and proximity of the many stores and restaurants. For many years Sue was a regular at her favorite local bistro Fior D' Italia where she enjoyed treating friends and family to a meal. The Fior staff treated Sue as a member of their family always keeping an open table for her in case she would drop by.
Sue Siegel leaves behind a large contingent of friends and mentees who were devoted to her, warmth, honesty, creativity, and joie de vivre. Sue is survived by her three children, David Siegel of San Francisco, Peter Siegel (Jeanne De Alcuaz) of Belmont, and Claudia Siegel of San Francisco, as well as her two "adopted" daughters from Walter Rubin: Cindy Rubin of Aptos, and Jody Turkus of Los Altos. Sue is also survived by her 5 grandchildren: Danielle Siegel, Benjamin Siegel, Elliot Siegel, Rebecca Siegel, and Isaac Siegel-Hanly as well as her nieces and nephews, Ruth Landy of San Francisco, Jack Landy of S. Lake Tahoe, and Michael Landy of Wantage, UK.
We all miss her greatly and cherish her beloved memory.
Donations in her name can be sent to The Jewish Family and Children's Services of San Francisco.