Jill Hart Larsen

Jill Hart Larsen died unexpectedly early on the morning of May 27, 2020, leaving behind a devastated group of family and friends who still can’t believe that such a big-hearted, vibrant life force is no longer in this world.

Jill Rene Hart was born on November 18, 1959 to Jack and Jeri Hart, who were living in married student housing at the University of California, Berkeley. Jack, the co-captain of (as he would say) the “most recent” Cal Rose Bowl team (January of 1959), was on the coaching staff at Cal. The Hart family, with older sister Jan and later younger brothers Joe and Jon, eventually moved from Berkeley to Champaign, Ill., Mission Viejo, Ca., Weston, Conn., and finally, Lafayette, Ca., as Jack’s career transitioned from coaching Division One college football into sales on a national level for Levi, Strauss.

I met Jill on a Fall day in September of 1977. We were both starting our junior year at Acalanes High School in Lafayette. I still remember the moment I first saw her in the Junior Hall; she moved my heart, she still does. We began dating while we were both studying at Cal. I eventually pursued her to southern France, where she spent her Junior year abroad; two years later I followed her to West Africa, where she was serving as a Peace Corps volunteer. I visited her in the small village in southern Senegal, where she lived for nearly two years in a mud hut with the chief and his family, without running water or electricity, as she worked with local villagers to enhance production in their communal garden.

Following her time in the Peace Corps, Jill returned to the San Francisco Bay Area, where we were married in July of 1984. She then worked to put me through law school at the University of Oregon, where we developed a life long fondness for Eugene. After my graduation we returned to the Bay Area and Jill followed up her undergraduate degree in Social Welfare with a Masters in Social Work at Sacramento State. She then began her working life as a Psychiatric Social Worker for the Veteran’s Administration, working initially in Martinez, Ca., at both the out-patient clinic and the hospital there and then later at VA clinics in both downtown Oakland and on the Oakland Army Base. Although having to relocate across the country multiple times during her middle and high school years was challenging, along the way, Jill developed into a person of compassion, with the ability to care deeply about anyone she met, stranger or friend. As a listener, she was always present, as a friend, always available; and she always, always cared. Jill was passionate about her view of things; she had standards that she tried her best to live up to and she expected others, family and friends alike, to do the same. Our family began in 1990 with Molly, who was soon followed by Sam (1993) and Hank (1996). Jill stopped working so she could be a full-time mom; she later returned for a second stint with the VA after the kids got older. As a mom, the kids benefitted from all of Jill’s talents as a listener, advisor, friend and when necessary, disciplinarian. But for all of us, whenever we needed one, Jill was always our soft place to fall.

Jill loved cooking and she was constantly scouring magazines, newspapers and her many cookbooks for recipes that caught her eye, which she would immediately modify to fit her own tastes. Her meals were heavenly; her made from scratch pizzas were joyfully devoured on a weekly basis. Jill loved books (favorite: The Grapes of Wrath) and newspapers, cooking magazines, the New Yorker and the NYT crossword; as well as music of all kinds, hiking, travel, get togethers with friends and family, Cal football and Giants’ baseball games and especially spending family time at our second home at Sea Ranch on the Sonoma coast. There, Jill would work for days preparing holiday feasts at Thanksgiving and Christmas. At home in Orinda, she would do the same for a kitchen full of family or friends or for one of her crowded tailgate parties before and after Cal football games.

For many years, Jill was a member of the Lombardy Branch, a local fundraising arm of Children’s Hospital in Oakland, eventually serving as President. She also founded and for 17 years chaired a Classics book group with a group of cherished friends and helped start a hiking group, originally to climb Half Dome; the group had so much fun it stayed together, eventually tackling several more challenging hikes. Jill loved to garden and eventually earned the green thumb to prove it; she had a good eye for colorful plants and the annual bounty from her vegetable garden enhanced many meals. She also attended extension classes through UC Berkeley, as well as cooking classes and volunteered at St. Vincent De Paul in Oakland, helping to feed the homeless. In addition to frequent visits to Sea Ranch and several trips to Europe, our favorite destinations included Giants’ Spring Training in Scottsdale, Yosemite Valley and the Ahwahnee Hotel, Eugene (usually for a Cal football Game) and the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, where we spent our wedding night and began a tradition of return visits for special and even not so special occasions.

Jill and I were constantly amazed by and thankful for the fact that we had each found and married our true loves; we tried not to waste a minute. We had such fun, shared so much love and now she is gone, leaving a void in the hearts of all of us who loved her so. But we still see her beautiful smile and hear her infectious laughter, through which her love of life flowed. Jill was funny and loved good jokes; she was sharp witted and at times, sharp tongued. We still try to mimic many of her great impressions of characters who populated her life through the years. She loved the works of Jane Austen, the Golden Globes and the Oscars (especially the red carpet shows), Masterpiece Theater, Jeopardy and Tiger King; at Christmas time, A Christmas Carol at ACT and Chanticleer.

Jill is survived by me, Jim, we would have been married for 36 years last July; Molly, Sam and Hank. Like mine, their hearts are broken, but they continue on with Jill and all that she taught them held tightly inside. Jill was devoted to maintaining her close relationships with her family; her parents, Jack and Jeri Hart, sister Jan Sousa, her husband Guy and their children Jack (Laura and their twins Charlotte and Eleanor), Carly (Ali), Kevin (Emily) and Riley (Danny); Jill’s brother Joe and his kids Will and Emily, their mother Leslie and Jill’s brother Jon and his wife Stacy and their son Hudson – all miss our Jill but keep her close in their hearts and minds. Jill also leaves behind her favorite Uncle Rick Lumsden (Olga) and her cousin Drew. Finally, Jill is missed dearly by her close friend Kristen Paulson, from Cal forward. Since grade school, her partner in all things punny and close friend, Barbara O’Connell, who passed away in 2019, is no doubt getting the popcorn and old movies ready.

Any and all thoughts, photos and remembrances of any kind would be welcome; please send them to ihartjill@gmail.com. A memorial to remember and celebrate Jill in a way befitting her caring, joyful spirit is being planned for later in the year.