Elizabeth Delaney "Beth" Jordan

1948 - 2022

Elizabeth "Beth"
Delaney Jordan

1948-2022

On September 1, 2022, our beloved Beth Jordan began her journey home, her suffering from cancer and chemotherapy, over. We all smile in remembrance of such a singular soul. Beth was a joyful, tender, and supportive friend who delighted in the hard work of serving and teaching others.
Elizabeth Delaney Jordan first greeted the world March 16, 1948 in Berkeley CA, the second of Bill and Betty Jordan's four children. The family moved to Eureka, California in time for Beth to begin kindergarten at St. Bernard's Catholic School. In Eureka, over the next 11 years, Beth not only developed lifelong friendships, but also discovered the seeds of an egalitarian theology which would give shape and dimension to her life.
Beth graduated from Santa Rosa High School and from Humboldt State College with a double major in Sociology and Social Welfare. She received a Masters in Counseling from the University of San Francisco and earned a teaching credential.
Beth completed her education with a lifetime of enthusiastic travel and reading. She could discuss anything. She saw the light side of serious subjects. Her ever-present smile was warm, welcoming and at times, a bit mischievous. She loved to laugh. She loved costumes and practical jokes. She was a storyteller who loved hearing the stories of others. She listened intently.
Beth specialized in friendship. She had many friends and an unusually large number of close friends."Who is not attracted to an intelligent woman with a wicked sense of humor?"explains a friend. Another notes that "Beth always made you feel like you were her best friend." This was her gift, and she used it to spread kindness and joy.
As a young adult, Beth found her footing in faith-based organizations. Barely out of college, she developed a paid youth ministry program with outreach to locations all over Humboldt County. In 1977, she moved to Monterey to serve as Director of Youth Ministry for the diocese, and then stayed on the Central Coast for 25 years.
Beth's life was a Venn diagram of overlapping communities focused on creating a more just, peaceful world: teaching in Catholic and Public schools, the Emmaus community in Sonoma County, Pax Christi International, Call to Action, the Benedictine community in Erie PA, and Spiritus Christi in Rochester NY.
Following the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, Beth helped found the "Loaves and Fishes" food distribution program that continues to this day. She organized and ran several state-wide conferences for youth. She helped form a board of Youth Ministry Directors involving seven northern California dioceses. She spent two years in Rochester, NY at a dynamic, justice-oriented church learning pastoral work.
Beth had a knack for befriending anyone no matter their station in life. She often made friends with powerful or well-known people: authors, speakers, bishops, priests, nuns, leaders. She also relished telling stories about them—a touch of irreverence in the structured hierarchy of the church. It was Beth's way of saying "we're all equal."
Beth's fun-loving spirit was always evident. She was a founding member in 1989 of e Vampus clitis, a "loose women's" organization. Vampers continue to meet at least once per year. Beth's last Vamp Out was at MacKerricher State Park just days before her cancer diagnosis.
After her father passed away in 2001, Beth returned to Santa Rosa to care for her mother. From 2004-2018, she taught fourth grade at Brooks Elementary School in Windsor, CA. Much to Beth's delight, her picture appeared on Windsor-area buses in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week in 2013.
Beth's mother Betty died in 2018 at age 98. That same year, Beth retired from teaching, renovated her SUV, and began traveling the country to visit family and friends. On a trip to Cuba with the People to People program, Beth met several Benedictine nuns and, the following year, became an "Oblate"—a lay member—of their monastery in Erie, PA. She became good friends with the Prioress, Sr. Joan Chittister, an influential religious thinker and author, with whom she assisted and traveled in the US, central Europe, the Greek Isles and Turkey.
Beth's passion for social justice also brought her to the Mexican border to work with immigrants separated from their families by the US government. "What happens in El Paso stays in the heart," she said. In 2018 and 2019, Beth traveled twice to Uganda to visit her niece Taylor and family, and to Italy to visit her beloved niece Maisie who was studying there.
Despite her struggles with cancer, Beth kept looking to the future. She planned trips. Bought a house. Entertained friends. Kept trying more chemo. In the end, she once again gave all she had; donating her body to UCSF in the hope researchers could better understand her rare form of cancer.
Beth was preceded in death by her parents and her brother Faison "Dan" Jordan. She is survived by her sister Tracy Jordan French (Richard), and her brother, Mac Jordan; her nieces Maisie French and Taylor Radovich (Jake) and nephew Shane Jordan (Mayra Orozco), plus six great-niblings and many cousins. She is also survived by the Hesse family of which she is an honorary member, her childhood friend Sue Wahlund Dimmick and countless other friends.
A Celebration of Life will be held in Santa Rosa, CA on March 18, 2023 at the Unitarian Universalist church. Donations may be made in Beth's name to your favorite charity.