Elizabeth Elaine Wright

Born on February 10, 1935, in Glendale, California, Elizabeth Elaine Dollard Wright (“Liz” and sometimes “Beth” to her family and friends) lived a long, full life. She died April 29, 2024, at the age of 89, from complications due to dementia. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 65 years, Olen Clifford Wright, Jr, her parents, Agatha Georgia Drew Dollard and Frank Cecil Dollard and her siblings, Theresa Broussard and Frank Dollard. Blessed with a devoted family, she is survived by her beloved children, Marty (Cyrene), Lisa (Jim), Kristi (Dan), and Drew (Amy), her many grandchildren who filled her with delight, Matthew (Sabrina), Jason (Sharlene), Natalie (Grant), Sarah (Chris), Caroline (Paul), Xander, Blake, Finn, and finally, her great-grandchildren, Charlie, Nate, Jack and Mary Ella (with two great-grandchildren on the way). Also, her extended family of nieces, nephews, and cousins, who she loved very much. We will celebrate Liz with a funeral Mass at the Carmelite Monastery in Santa Clara on May 17th at 10 am. In lieu of flowers, please consider a modest donation to one of the following organizations:

Carmelite Monastery – checks payable to Carmelite Monastery, 1000 Lincoln Street, Santa Clara, CA 95050

Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance -- https://www.curefa.org/

Filoli House and Gardens – https://filoli.org/

Humane Society Silicon Valley – https://www.hssv.org/

Liz grew up in San Francisco, California with her mom, siblings, and grandparents. She was a self-declared tomboy, with a special fondness for climbing trees. She attended Catholic schools throughout, including St. Rose Academy and Lone Mountain College (San Francisco College for Women), now incorporated into University of San Francisco, where she obtained a bachelor’s degree in English and her teaching credential. Her senior year, she was student body president. In fact, the great Bill Russell signed one of her campaign posters along with numerous other USF basketball players, one of whom advocated for her as a kind person deserving of their support. Liz’s years at school were happy ones where she made lifelong friends. Later when other memories began to slip away, her school years remained sharply in focus. However, the best was yet to come. To quote Liz: “I did well in college, but once I fell in love with Cliff, my grades began to slip.”

Liz met the love of her life on a blind date set up by her sister. Cliff was stationed at the Presidio. They dated for a number of months until Cliff got orders to Japan. Every day for a year, they wrote love letters to each other. On his return, they were soon married on August 10, 1957 – in a double wedding for both Liz and her sister, Theresa.

When their first child came in 1958, Liz set aside her elementary school teaching to become a stay-at-home mom. Two of four children arrived while Cliff was finishing up his degree at Cal Berkeley, another arrived while they lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico for Cliff’s first job, and the final child arrived once they had settled in San Jose. After her mom’s death, Liz shared the running of the family college preparatory school, Drew School, in San Francisco until the family gifted it to the community. Drew School, founded in 1908 by her grandfather, remains a vibrant place of learning today.

While growing up, Liz made many wonderful memories at their much-loved family beach house in Stinson Beach, built by her grandparents in the late 1920s. There, she sunbathed on the beach, rode horses, and shared her first kiss. As adults, she and her siblings continued to own the family home for multiple decades, and she made countless new memories with her husband and children, building sandcastles, searching for petrified sand dollars, walking the hills overlooking the ocean, spending hours upon hours at the sweet little bookstore and later reading the newly purchased books, and visiting elderly locals she’d known since childhood. There’s no place on Earth that Liz loved more than Stinson Beach. When they visited in later years, Liz and Cliff spent their evenings at the iconic Sand Dollar Restaurant, listening to live jazz and finishing off the night with a healthy serving of the restaurant’s celebrated mud pie dessert. Besides Stinson Beach, Liz was a huge fan of Half Moon Bay and her favorite restaurant, Pasta Moon, home of her favorite lemon dessert.

Liz was always a seeker of knowledge, with a special love for all things historical and literary. She gave her children an appreciation for Chaucer, Dickens, Shakespeare, and Jane Austen and a love of reading supported with biweekly trips to the library. An avid genealogist, her research led her to becoming fast friends with distant cousin, Chris Fray, over their shared interest in mutual ancestors. She was a proud member of the Questers, an organization that keeps history alive by supporting preservation, restoration and education. And Liz was passionate about all things miniature and the Mini Cals, the local chapter of the National Association of Miniature Enthusiasts, yet another common interest she shared with her daughters who loved their dollhouses and miniatures.

An artist and craftswoman, she discovered a special talent for designing and sewing dolls with uncanny likenesses to people, whether famous or not. She ran a small business for many years, making dolls as gifts, and was featured on the local news. Her Shakespeare collection of dolls is extraordinary. She also was a lovely writer, and her magical, time-traveling series: Sarah Elizabeth and Jason T. Bear finally was published as part of her 80th birthday celebration. Two of her grandchildren were named after her delightful main characters. She was also known for her hilarious themed booklets, filled with photos and quotes, that she gifted as gentle satire. When one of her daughters accidentally led her into a men’s bathroom, Liz pulled together one of her humorous booklets to explain the difference.

Over the years, Liz and Cliff went to countless jazz concerts at Paul Masson Mountain Winery in Saratoga, many with their children. They also supported the local music scene, becoming regulars at hot spots like Teriyaki and Spirits, Vintage House, The Blue Pheasant, and Mountain Charlie’s. Later, they proudly attended their grandchildren’s middle school jazz band concerts. They also enjoyed attending many elementary school musical theater performances and dance recitals. When a grandson went away to college, they continued to look forward to and enjoy his dance performances on video.

In retirement, Liz and Cliff traveled extensively in Europe, Canada, and the East Coast. They especially loved France, which they visited many times. Liz was a self-proclaimed Francophile and shared that passion with her daughters. In addition, Liz and Cliff became regulars at a local coffee shop, The Roasted Coffee Bean. There, they held court in the afternoons for a decade. Family always knew where to find them and often joined them there. It was a lovely time of their lives, filled with community and friendship.

Liz had a beautiful openness toward everyone she met. She carried chocolate kisses with her and handed them out with abandon. She never met a stranger she couldn’t turn into a best friend within minutes. Once, when a young woman from France came to the door selling books, Liz immediately cautioned her on the dangers of selling door-to-door and then took her under her wing, becoming her honorary aunt during her stay in California. The two families are forever linked now, visiting often over the years, and hosting each other’s children.

She was a devoted wife for 65 years to Cliff Wright, and a wonderful mom, beautiful, kind, funny and incredibly witty. Her children benefited from having a mom who drove them to track and cross-country practices, and on field trips, helped with artistic school projects, doted on them when they were sick at home, and comforted them when they needed it. She adored her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She cherished her friendships. And she loved animals deeply. Cats, dogs, horses, squirrels, racoons, dolphins, elephants, hummingbirds, butterflies…the list of favorite animals was endless. All of her children are cat-lovers, and her daughters and granddaughter inherited her love of horses. She kept a beautiful garden and was a big fan of local treasures, Filoli and Hakone Gardens. Spring was her favorite season by far. She always made her oldest daughter feel special for being born on the first day of Spring. She wrote about the divine flowers everywhere and the blossom trees. She had a special fondness for orchids.

As might be expected, Liz was heartbroken when her beloved husband passed away in March of 2023. They had always been an inseparable team. The last year of her life was a tough one. She struggled with memory loss and increased frailty, but she remained the beautiful, resilient spirit she’d always been—kind, charming and loving and still the wittiest person in the room. She found pockets of joy in drumming to Pink Martini music at night, inventing and playing a game similar to Bocci Ball but with percussion eggs, re-reading family memoirs and flipping through countless photo albums. She loved to watch the cats, birds, and occasional visiting dogs in the backyard and dog and horse shows on TV—when she could pull herself away from her favorite sitcoms: Kim’s Convenience and MASH. She was incredibly lucky to be surrounded by an amazing and loving group of caregivers and health care professionals, not to mention her fabulous personal trainer and wonderful hairdresser. Most importantly, Liz was able to live in the cottage behind her youngest daughter and son-in-law’s home, with family just steps away when not in the same room. She had fun at the Farmer’s Market just blocks away, explored the beautiful neighborhood, and had happy visits and celebrations with her great-grandbaby and her other loving family members.

In a letter to the family, tucked into her trust documents, she said: “We love you and all of our dear friends and look forward to the grand reunion someday. We’ll always be with you in spirit, in music, in the scent of jasmine, in the sound of ocean waves and when you see a butterfly, a hummingbird, the stars at night, a lovely moon, a rainbow.”

May Liz be dancing in the clouds with her forever love, Cliff.