Helen Therese Rendon (Zoma)
April 17, 1932 - April 2, 2018
Born in Baghdad, Iraq, April 17, 1932, the 10th child of Toma Zoma and Hannia Zoma Azzaria, both of the Chaldean Rite, Helen ventured to the U.S. in 1956, a daring move for a young Iraqi woman at that time, first to Montreal, Canada, and in Fall 1957 to Belmont, CA, to study at the College of Notre Dame. Already fluent in Arabic, Chaldean and French, she rapidly acquired English skills which enabled her to graduate with her class in 1961. She had met her husband, Armando Rendón, while attending a mixer at his school, St. Mary’s College, in Moraga. She and Armando moved to Sacramento in late 1961 where he had been hired by the diocesan newspaper, the Catholic Herald, as a reporter. They had three children in Sacramento, Mark, 1962; Gabrielene (Gail), 1963, and Paul, 1966. In 1967, Helen and her family moved to Washington, D.C. when Armando was hired by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights as a press officer. A fourth child, John, was born in 1970. Helen had taught French in Sacramento at Bishop Armstrong High School, and took a similar job at Presentation High School in D.C. In 1979, she earned a Masters in Public Administration at The American University. She landed a job with the D.C. government matching the unemployed with jobs in the Capital Area. Returning to the Bay Area in 1985, her job search ran up against some barriers, so she founded her own company, Helen’s Walk Tour, in 1988 which operated for 25 years in San Francisco, and set the model for many of the walking tours that proliferated in the 2000s. Helen was a devoted Catholic, active at Mary Magdalen Church in Berkeley, as a lector for 30 years, sponsor of persons seeking to convert to Catholicism, donor of an annual scholarship enabling needy children to attend School of the Madeleine, and beloved member of the coffee and donut gatherings after Sunday 8 a.m. Mass. Helen was a long-time member of the Berkeley Garden Club, a 25-year volunteer at the San Francisco Botanical Garden, and proud creator of mini botanical gardens at home. In D.C., she helped found the Spanish Educational Development Center, worked in the U.S. Department of Labor on women’s employment issues, and was active in feminist actions, including hosting Gloria Steinem for a fundraiser in her D.C. home. Helen treasured her five grandchildren, Aitana (Mark); Lauren and Elizabeth (Gail and David Contreras), and Lina Rose and Dominic (Paul and Cathy). She is survived by her older sister, Victoria, who lives near Detroit, and her older brother, Constantine, who lives in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and numerous cousins around the world.
Instead of flowers, please donate to the Alzheimer’s Foundation, alzfdn.org.
A wake is scheduled 7-9pm Monday, April 9 and a funeral Mass (with reception) 10am Tuesday, April 10, both at Mary Magdalen Church, 2005 Berryman Street, Berkeley, CA.