Naomi J Tolf

Naomi Jean Tolf, 87, of Longmont, Colorado, passed away on Tuesday, March 1, 2016, at Life Care Center of Longmont. She was born on December 5, 1928, in Litchfield Township, Hillsdale County, Michigan, to John and Inez Beck. Naomi was the second of six children and is survived by her older sister Virginia Carlson, younger twin sisters Helen Hine and Verla Kohrman, and younger brother Wilbur Beck. She was preceded in death by her parents, her younger brother Walter Beck, and her husband Albert (Al) Tolf. She had many nieces and nephews.

After graduating from high school in Delton, Michigan, Naomi moved to Chicago, Illinois and began a career with United Airlines. She worked for

United Airlines in Denver, Colorado for a short time, and then she moved to San Francisco, where she continued her United Airlines career as an analyst until she retired.

Naomi enjoyed traveling and explored England, France, Norway, Sweden (where Al’s family was from) and Switzerland. She also went to Japan in 1962 on an extended missionary trip. She married Albert (Al) Bertil Tolf in San Francisco on June 24, 1967. Al had galleries in several locations over the years, including in the Transamerica Tower and on Sutter and Post Streets. He was particularly known for his caricatures of San Francisco, especially one he called “San Frantasia”. Al’s artistic expertise ranged from creating cartoons to painting cable cars and urban life on the streets of San Francisco. He demonstrated his artistic diversity when painting barns, churches, landscapes, seagulls and owls, which were all favorite subjects. He painstakingly researched and meticulously painted the minute details of the 1903 San Francisco waterfront. After retiring, Naomi and Al moved to Santa Rosa, where they enjoyed their final years together until Al’s death on December 27, 1996. Naomi continued traveling, visiting family in Michigan several times and returning to Norway in 1999 and Japan in 2000. She continued her social and church activities in Santa Rosa until 2014, when she moved to Longmont to be near family and became a resident at The Bridge at Longmont Assisted Living Community.

Naomi chose to be cremated, which Howe Mortuary in Longmont handled. No formal memorial services are planned, but her ashes will be spread at Santa Rosa Memorial Park where Al’s ashes were spread after his death. In lieu of flowers, Naomi would have loved for remembrance to be made by donating to your favorite charity or by enjoying a good meal with your family. She will be missed.

If you would like to know a little bit more about Naomi’s husband, Al Tolf, he was born on January 17, 1911 in Joliet, Illinois. He studied art in Joliet and then landed in San Francisco in the 1950s. In addition to painting, he wrote original cartoons in pen and ink for various magazines and newspapers and published cartoon books, including This Was San Francisco and In Old San Francisco. His talents were endless, and he brought much joy to Naomi’s life.