Ph. D. Binaca Rose Paula (Bibi) Hirsch

Bianca Zwang Hirsch
November 1, 1925–February 26, 2020

Bianca Zwang Hirsch passed away peacefully on February 26, 2020.

Bianca Rosa Paula Zwang was born in Mannheim, Germany, on November 11, 1925, to Siegbert and Betty Zwang, and was the younger sister of Hans. In 1937, her parents recognized that the situation for Jews in Nazi Germany was deteriorating, so Siegbert and Betty made the decision to take their children, Hans and Bianca, and two nieces and leave them with relatives in the United States. Hans and Bianca were taken to Coalinga, California, where they lived with a brother and sister of their father, respectively. Siegbert and Betty went back to Germany but managed to leave a month before Krystalnacht. The family settled in Chicago.
Bianca graduated from Senn High School in Chicago and went on to study psychology at Northwestern University. Upon graduation, she told her parents that she did not want to live the rest of her life in Chicago, since she simply did not like the weather. She planned to move to San Francisco, but first traveled to New York to attend a wedding. The wedding was officiated by Cantor Erwin Hirsch, the brother of Warren Hirsch. Bianca and Warren had been members of the children’s choir at their synagogue in Mannheim. Erwin gave Bianca Warren’s phone number and she called him once she settled at the Emanu-El Residence Club in San Francisco. Six months after that phone call, Warren and Bianca were married.

Bianca and Warren had two children, Clifford and Felissa. Bianca worked as a psychologist for the San Francisco School District for many years, earning her Ph.D. while working and raising her children. She wrote a weekly column for a local independent newspaper about various school programs, wrote a biannual newsletter for the former Jews of Mannheim, and wrote and directed plays for Congregation Ner Tamid, where Warren and Bianca were devoted members for many years.

In 2018, Warren and Bianca celebrated their 70th anniversary. Warren predeceased Bianca on March 16, 2019. Bianca is survived by her children, Clifford (and Lori) Hirsch and Felissa (and Myron) Cagan, her grandchildren, Derek (and Casey) Hirsch, Amanda (and Aaron) Kempema, Eli Cagan and Melissa Hirsch, and her great-grandchildren, Simone Kempema and Sierra Hirsch.

Bianca was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She was the energetic “Grandma B” to her grandchildren and delighted in playing with them, and cooking and baking for them. She and Warren attended services at Congregation Ner Tamid for as long as they could. They were avid travelers and symphony, opera and theatergoers and loved living in San Francisco near their family and many dear friends.

A graveside service was held on March 1. The family requests that donations in Bianca’s memory be made to the Anti-Defamation League.

Source: The Jewish News of Northern California