Rosalie Pizzo-Strain

Our beloved member of Santa Cruz Meeting, Rosalie Pizzo Strain stayed vibrant and full of life until she passed away peacefully in her sleep on February 26th at the young age of 91.

Rosalie was born April 18th, 1931 in San Francisco, California. When relating her birth date to others, she liked to tell them that she was born on the day of the 1906 earthquake, quickly making one think she could be that old. Then she’d laugh and remind people that the event preceded her birthday by 25 years. She loved to make people laugh! She lived in San Francisco for many years and she and her husband Joe raised their family there.

Rosalie is the daughter of Rose Phillips and Fred Verador. She was a loving wife to husbands, Joe Pizzo, Alan Strain, and partner Ted Nickelson. She has three brothers, Fred (now deceased), Warren and Ronald and her sister Joyce. Her three children, John, David and Leah, and their seven children and sixteen grandchildren, were the joys of her life. She was known for remembering everyone’s birthdays, sending cards and staying in frequent touch with them well toward the end of her life. To this large group of grandchildren, Rosalie added a few local “adopted” grandchildren to the mix and the Navarro and Bertrand families are so grateful for her open heartedness in sharing herself with them.

Full of life until the very end, just seven days before she passed away on a visit with Rosalie she stood up from her seat and did a little dance movement. She said that despite the heartaches of the world, she still loved to dance and laugh, that one of the things still bringing her joy was seeing young children and babies and saying hello to them when she’d go to the store or see them on the street.

Over the years close friends in Santa Cruz always heard about the delightful camping trips and birthday parties and other family events with the Pizzo family. These family gatherings were deeply meaningful–and fun– and there was always an anecdote she shared about these experiences of her loving and large family.

Santa Cruz Meeting has a tradition of having an evening dedicated to listening to the life stories of members of the Meeting. In 2001, in the lobby of her residence at Piedmont Court, where many other members had come to share their stories, on that evening it was her opportunity, and some here may even recall her talk about her childhood, her family and her early religious life. She was 70 years young at the time she shared her life story with the Meeting.

Rosalie shared that she was born Jewish, but at 7 years old she told her mother “I want to be a Catholic” and her mother said, “Okay.” Prior to 7 she had not grown up with any religion. She went to Catholic school with her brother Fred and took two buses to get there. She later went to Lowell Public High School.

Several years later her brother Warren introduced her to Quakerism. John and David were six and four at the time, and Rosalie was 25. She recounted: “The silence was overwhelming; it was beautiful. It felt like coming home. The year was 1957 and I stayed ever since.” To get to San Francisco Meeting wasn’t easy. At that time it was located at the Japanese Y in the Western Addition. The bus ride was an hour each way and she had two young boys. She was determined to learn about Quakerism and recalled being in a “Jesus as Teacher” study group for two years and participating in Adult Ed before Meeting for Worship. All together the Meeting was over two hours in addition to the two hours on the bus. Later the San Francisco Meeting bought the Meetinghouse at 23rd and Lake. She drove by then and took Leah with her as well and sometimes drove older people to Meeting. She went to Worship and Fellowship classes and learned more about Catholic Theologians from these Quaker study groups than she’d ever known before. Her thirst for spiritual development was strong.

Rosalie shared that she struggled for years to find her identity saying: “I didn’t feel I belonged to the white world or the Filipino world and I didn’t know where I belonged. It wasn’t until I joined the Quaker meeting many years later, maybe five, ten years later that it dawned on me that Quakers never asked me about my ethnic background and it dawned upon me that I don’t have to be either/or, I can just be me. I don’t have to be white or Filipino, I could just be me and it felt like a freeing experience and from that day on I never struggled to find my identity.”

Rosalie was a well-loved, active member of the Religious Society of Friends and served on many committees within her Meetings. She also served on several committees with Quaker organizations. She was on the American Friends Service Committee serving on the Executive, Personnel and Nominating Committees and worked for Friends Committee on Legislation for 12 years. When FCL moved to Sacramento she found a job working for the Unitarian Church as a program coordinator where she supervised staff, and scheduled over one hundred weddings, including the wedding of herself and Alan, and her daughter Leah and Matt who were also married there.

Rosalie met her husband Alan Strain at Pacific Yearly Meeting and they fell in love while they served on the Yearly Meeting’s Ministry and Oversight Committee. After they’d been together for a few years, she said she shared with Alan one day that she was really very shy and introverted and insecure to which Alan quipped “Gosh, I wish I would’ve known you then!” Alan and Rosalie were married in 1980 and were together for 23 years. Alan passed away in 2003 leaving his own legacy of decades of service to many. Rosalie later met Ted Nickelson, her partner in love and occasional Tango dancing until he passed away in 2018.

Rosalie was an accomplished artist guided by instinct with pencil and paper in a free form style. She started taking art classes from a teacher who taught at Pendle Hill. At first she thought she couldn’t draw, but her art teacher told her “Everyone is artistic. It just needs to be brought out in them.” Rosalie said “I laughed at her but later on I didn’t laugh anymore because I made a LOT of art. It was wonderful to know that I can do art.”

Rosalie’s artistic skills were apparent in her photography, taking photos of plants and images of local vistas. Some of those images you can see in the foyer.* For many years she made her own greeting cards out of these images and some were lucky enough to receive a little set of these photos for a birthday or Christmas gift. She had an intuitive eye. In her later years she enjoyed flower arranging, especially Ikebana, displaying her flowers around the lobby and halls of Piedmont Court where she lived. She was known as the Flower Lady of Piedmont Court.

At a Pacific Yearly Meeting gathering in the 1970’s in a Family Night program, she saw someone do Tai Chi. She was so moved by it she found someone who taught Tai Chi and since that time she practiced Tai Chi for over fifty years! She said, “I call it my meditative form of dance. I find it very spiritual for me, helping me throughout my life.“ She also loved to swim and made this a regular form of exercise for many years at Harvey West Park. She maintained the physical and mental exuberance of youth throughout her life.

Rosalie had many loved ones whom she embraced as her dear friends throughout the years. Her huge loving heart was always filled with acceptance and empathy for all those around her and she cared deeply for all living things around the world. Rosalie lit up a room wherever she went and her spirit will be missed by those of us so fortunate to know her bright light.

Sofiah Sexton, Visalia Monthly Meeting 2023

Recognizing her radiant presence in our Meeting for the past few years and her historical family roots in Quakerism, we observe and mourn the death of Sofiah Sexton. During her time with Visalia Friends Meeting, Sofiah blessed everyone with her enthusiasm and sense of humor. She was a passionate supporter of racial and social justice, and had a deep concern for the unhoused. Sofiah passed away on April 20, 2023, with great dignity, courage, and a presence in her own passing in a way that taught us to face death without fear. She is deeply missed.