In Memoriam
Joseph Grossman
1941 - 2025
Joseph (Joe) Grossman was born on February 16, 1941, in Brooklyn, NY, to Otto and Beatrice Grossman, and died on December 16, 2025, with his wife and daughters by his side. He was predeceased by his sister, Johanna Grossman Bauer. He is survived by Marcia Forman Grossman, his wife of 63 years; his daughters Debbie Grossman (Alan Peel) and Jessica Grossman (Joel Kaufman); and his beloved grandchildren, Naomi and Rowyn Peel.
Joe earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Newark College of Engineering (now NJIT) in 1962 and went on to a distinguished 30-year career with the U.S. Navy’s Strategic Systems Project Office. Appointed to the Senior Executive Service in 1982, he was at the forefront of developments in GPS, underwater communications, and advanced missile tracking systems before retiring in 1998. In retirement, Joe and Marcia moved to the Bay Area, where he continued his lifelong commitment to service through civic leadership in El Cerrito and active participation in community initiatives.
In California, Joe embraced the arts with the same enthusiasm he brought to his professional life. He and Marcia became dedicated members of Kol Hadash and enthusiastic participants in Stagebridge, taking acting, musical theater, and singing classes and performing in class showcases. They were devoted theatergoers, travelers, and community members. Brilliant, curious, funny, and kind, Joe will be deeply missed by his family, friends, and the many communities he enriched. Donations in his memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Please visit Joseph’s Legacy page for a full obituary and donation options.
Vicki Michelle Wong
1963 - 2026
Vicki Michelle Wong was born on November 8, 1963, in Oakland, California, to Edward H. and Janet V. Wong, and grew up alongside her older brother, David. A graduate of Skyline High School and California State University, Hayward, where she earned a degree in Mass Communications, Vicki built a vibrant creative career in the film industry. She worked as a grip and gaffer before joining Tippett Studio in Berkeley, contributing visual effects work to films including Starship Troopers, Hollow Man, Cloverfield, and Hellboy. She later worked at Lucasfilm in Marin County on the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, and helped bring the independent film East Side Sushi (2014) to life, which earned widespread acclaim and numerous awards.
A lifelong artist, Vicki expressed her creativity through photography, sculpture, drawing, and cartooning, often sharing her work generously with friends. She developed a deep love for Hawai‘i and its culture, studying and performing hula for many years before turning to the ukulele and performing with AHAmele, an Oakland-based Hawaiian music ensemble. While working at The Marsh Theater in San Francisco, she met her lifelong partner, Lance McGee, and became an integral part of his creative life, helping produce and film his one-man shows.
Despite heart health challenges beginning in 2017, Vicki faced her final years with remarkable courage, positivity, and grace. She passed away on January 24, 2026, and is reunited with her parents. A beloved sister, partner, auntie, and friend, Vicki will be remembered for her artistic spirit, generosity, and radiant aloha. Those wishing to honor her memory may consider donations to the Maui Strong Foundation or the Maui Humane Society.
Please visit Vicki’s Legacy page for a full obituary and donation options.
Betty Reid Soskin
1921 - 2025
Betty Reid Soskin, the oldest serving ranger in the National Park Service and a devoted guardian of America’s overlooked stories, died December 21, 2025, at her home in Richmond, California. She was 104. Born Betty Charbonnet on September 22, 1921, in Detroit and raised in Oakland, she lived a life that spanned and shaped more than a century of American history. During World War II, she worked for a segregated Black shipyard workers’ union auxiliary—an experience that later informed her powerful public storytelling.
In 1945, she co-founded Reid’s Records in Berkeley, a beloved cultural institution for decades, and remained active in music, civil rights, and community activism throughout her life. She was instrumental in the creation of the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, eventually becoming a park ranger in 2007 at age 85. For more than 15 years, until retiring at 100, she brought warmth, candor, and lived experience to her interpretation of wartime history. She authored the memoir Sign My Name to Freedom, reflecting on resilience, justice, and the long arc of social change, as well as releasing the documentary No Time To Waste in 2020.
In addition to her historic work with the National Park Service, Soskin was a Storyteller with Stagebridge, where she continued sharing her voice and wisdom with audiences of all ages. She celebrated her 104th birthday in September 2025 at the middle school in El Sobrante that bears her name. Her family requests that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to Betty Reid Soskin Middle School or toward the completion of her Sign My Name to Freedom documentary. Her extraordinary life remains a testament to courage, truth-telling, and the power of story.
Please visit Betty’s Legacy page for a full obituary and donation options.
Claire Isaacs Wahrhaftig
1933 - 2023
Stagebridge honors the life and generosity of our own Claire Isaacs Wahrhaftig, whose love for Stagebridge and ongoing support helped us rebuild, reconnect, and move forward to a more secure future with a renewed sense of purpose. Her belief in the magic power of creativity in later life continues to inspire our work.
Claire was a generous, curious, and exuberant spirit whose life was devoted to friendship, art, community, and social justice. A fourth-generation San Franciscan raised in the Richmond District, she graduated from Lowell High School and earned degrees in History of Art and Speech and Drama from Pomona College, later completing a fellowship in the Arts Administration Program at Harvard University. As a young woman she embraced adventure, traveling by freighter to Israel to study Hebrew, working clerical jobs, and even moonlighting as a jazz singer.
Claire built a distinguished 30-year career in arts and museum education and public service. She served as Executive Director of the San Francisco Arts Commission and Supervisor of Education at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where she championed arts access and education. Her work included developing grants for public art, helping restore the Coit Tower murals, founding the city’s Youth Arts Festival, and creating inclusive arts programs for young people. A lifelong advocate for civil rights, she marched in Selma, Alabama in 1965 and returned fifty years later to commemorate that historic moment.
After the death of her beloved husband, Bill Wahrhaftig, in 2005, Claire continued traveling, writing, and contributing to the community. In retirement she volunteered with the Alameda County Suicide Prevention Hotline and wrote for the Rockridge News. She also served as a board member, chair, and generous supporter of organizations close to her heart, including the Treasure Island Museum and Stagebridge, where she helped champion the power of the arts in later life. Claire’s warmth, curiosity, and commitment to community will be remembered by the many people whose lives she touched. Donations in Claire's name can be made to the Treasure Island Museum (treasureislandmuseum.org) and Stagebridge (stagebridge.org).
Please visit Claire’s Legacy page for a full obituary and donation options.