Lisa Michelle Podesta

Lisa Michelle Podesta (née Bemis) passed away peacefully and sweetly on April 5, 2017 in San Francisco following a heroic battle with cancer surrounded by her beloved husband and mother. She was 54 years old. Lisa was smart and fun, funny and beautiful. She brought her exquisite taste and charm to all parts of her life and enriched everyone who knew her.

She was a Bay Area Native and was an AAU All American Swimmer in 1980 and qualified for the United States Olympic team. Her Olympic quest ended when the USA boycotted the 1980 Moscow Games. Lisa graduated from the University of California, Berkeley where she was a member of the Cal Bear’s swim team. After graduation, Lisa began her long career in the Investment Business at Lehman Brothers. She was recruited by Bear Stearns and worked as Senior Managing Director in the Institutional Equity division and moved into Private Wealth Management when J.P. Morgan Securities acquired Bear Stearns.

Lisa lived in San Francisco with her husband, Robert, and was a member of the Olympic Club and the Villa Taverna Club in San Francisco and the Chicago Golf Club and the Saddle & Cycle Club in Chicago.

She is survived by her husband, Robert Anthony Podesta and her mother, Barbara Frechette (Gene) and Juliann Podesta, Madeleine Podesta Hilkey (Max) and Nicholas Podesta (Tracy), and Nicholas Podesta Jr. She was a beloved sister-in-law to Kathleen and John Mehigan, Carol and Brian Foley, and Mary Ellen Burke.

We would like to thank the nurses at the Bryan Hemmings Center and those on Sixth North at CPMC as well as Doctors Chan and Rosenthal and the extraordinary Barb Silver, NP from the Women’s Resource Center for their kindness and care. For those wishing to remember Lisa the family asks that memorials be made in her memory to the Ovarian/Reproductive Cancer Recovery Program at the Women’s Health Resource Center 3698 California Street, San Francisco, CA 94118

A private celebration of Lisa’s terrific life will be held at a later date.