Elizabeth Conner Blumberg

Elizabeth Conner Blumberg, 84, died 14th November, 2021 in Spokane Washington. She moved to Spokane in September 2020 from Oakland, California where she spent most of her adult life. She spent the last year of her life to be close to her immediate family who also reside in Spokane.

Elizabeth, “Liz”, was born November 28th, 1936 in Buffalo, New York to her parents Rachael and Watson Conner. Liz’s younger years were spent moving around the United States during World War II with her mother and younger brother Bill, while her father, as a Captain in the U.S. Army, spent the war in the Pacific, with stints in Honolulu, the Philippines, Tinian, and Okinawa, among others, as the military advanced westward towards the Japanese main islands. After the war, in the late 1940’s, her family settled in a new residential development called Greenbrae, in Marin County. Liz graduated from Drake High School in San Rafael and went on to UC Berkeley where she graduated with an undergraduate and master’s degree in economics. She made lifelong friends in high school and college that remained connected with her throughout her life.

She spent most of her working career at UC Berkeley first as a research assistant in the Economics department and later as an assistant dean of the Haas School of Business. After retiring, she volunteered as a docent at the San Francisco Asian Art Museum for 15 years traveling to Japan, China, and India to learn about the Asian cultures she covered at the museum. In her spare time, she cooked food for meals on wheels, and enjoyed tennis, swimming, and yoga.

Her family paid this tribute to her, “While Liz knew what she wanted and worked for it, she was a great listener and up for anything when it came to her family”. She got great joy from her grand children, friends and family. She believed in the value of a good education and encouraged her son and grand children to pursue college.

She is survived by her son, Peter, daughter in law Vicky, grand children Meara and Ben, brother Bill, step son and daughter, Bart and Eve, and her first husband John Cox. Her death follows her second husband, Mark, and her parents Watson and Rachael.