Alice Levison

See Alice's oral history interview here: https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb0c6003jt&brand=eqf&doc.view=enti...

pg 4 Independence Journal Thursday, March 15, 1973

OBITUARIES

Mrs. Alice Gerstle Levison

Memorial service for Alice Gerstle Levison, 99-year-old member of the family which gave Gerstle Park to the city of San Rafael, will be at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco.
Mrs. Levison died Tuesday, 16 days short of her 100th birthday, at the San Francisco home where she had lived for 71 years.

She was the last surviving child of Lewis and Hannah Gerstle, who reared their seven children in San Francisco and at Violet Terrace, as their summer estate in San Rafael was known.

Violet Terrace was purchased by the Gerstles in 1881, a house on land once part of the Mexican land grant, Rancho Punta de Quentin. In memory of the happy times at the estate, the Gerstle s’ children gave the property as a memorial to their mother when she died in 1930.

When Mr. and Mrs. Levison celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, instead of receiving a present, Mrs. Levison gave playground equipment to the park.

Levison, executive of Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. and founder and president of both the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera Association, died in 1947 at the age of 86.

Still witty and bright, last year Mrs. Levison held court for hundreds of relatives and friends when she observed her 99th birthday.

Mrs. Levison served as president of the Mount Zion Hospital auxiliary’ for many years and also as president of the now defunct Emanu-El Residence Club.

When she was well over 90, she was asked by the University of California’s Bancroft Library to tape her memoirs as part of the library’s history collection. She is said to have been very frank about early San Francisco residents.

Mrs. Levison is survived by four sons, John, Robert and George Levison and Charles Lane; eight grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

The family prefers contributions to the Alice Gerstle Levison Memorial Fund for Gerstle Park, in care of the mayor’s office, city hall, San Rafael.

26 E Oakland Tribune March 16, 1973

S.F. Memorial Services for Mrs. Levinson

Memorial services were to be held today in San Francisco for Mrs. Alice Gerstte Levison, philanthropist and matriarch of a prominent San Francisco family, who died Tuesday in the home where she bad resided for 71 of" her 99 years.

She would have been 108 on March 29.

Mrs. Levison was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Gerstle, after whom San Rafael's Gerstle Park was named. Her father, who came to California in 1850, was founder of the Alaska Commercial Company.

Her husband, the late J. B. Levison who died in 1947, was founder and president of the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera Association and an executive with Fireman's Fund Insurance Company.

Remembered by friends as a person who maintained a youthful outlook on life despite her advanced years, Mrs. Levison studied painting and enjoyed reading German and French until she became ill several weeks ago.

Mrs. Levison was past president of the Mount Zion-Hospital Auxiliary and served as president of-the now defunct Emanu-El Residence Club. Mrs. Levison is survived by four sons, John, Robert, Charles and George Levison, eight, grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren. Services were to be at 2 p.m. Temple Emanu-El at Aguello Boulevard and Lake belt, with Rabbi Joseph Asher officiating. Family suggests that contrbutions may be made in her memory to the Alice Gerstle Levison Memorial Fund for Gerstle Park, care of the Mayor of San Rafael, City Hall, San Rafael.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: May 27 2018, 13:47:32 UTC

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GEDCOM Source

Ancestry.com California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985 Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2010;

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry.com California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985 Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2010;

GEDCOM Source

GEDCOM Source

Ancestry.com California, San Francisco Area Funeral Home Records, 1895-1985 Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2010;

GEDCOM Source