Rebecca (Becky) Lea Black
November 8, 1953 – July 19, 2020 Former Resident of San Jose
Beloved Wife, Mother and Advocate. Rebecca (Becky) Lea Black, 66, passed away peacefully while holding her husband’s hand on July 19, 2020 after a brief illness. She was a tiny woman with a generous spirit, an open door, and a magical way of finding more when most needed and least expected.
Born in Phoenix, AZ in 1953 to Walter and Neta Salo, Becky was the older sister of Mike and Mark and the cherished granddaughter of Gertrude. The family moved to Lakewood, California in the early 1960s. In 1969 they moved once again, this time to San Jose where she attended Leigh High School. While at Leigh, she performed as a Song Girl and gymnast, sang in the choir, played the piano and met her future husband, Jim Black. Two years later, after Becky attended Westmont College, they ran into each other while both picking out greeting cards. They married in 1974 and spent 46 love-filled years raising their children and going on family adventures. Together, they explored California’s natural beauty by frequently camping in the woods, swimming in cold streams and lakes, mountain biking, hiking, cross-country skiing, white water-rafting, and reading on the beach. Nothing made Becky more proud than her two children with whom she enthusiastically shared her love of books, nature, puffy clouds and full moons.
She devoted much of her time and energy to helping support those in need as guided by her faith in Christ. After leaving a career focused on child-nutrition, she found her calling as a domestic violence victim advocate where she compassionately assisted women through the most challenging moments of their lives. With her dedication to others, keen intellect and curiosity, she eventually transitioned into becoming a particularly skillful development director for advocacy-based non-profits in Santa Clara County, from which she retired in 2018.
Becky will be lovingly remembered by her husband, Jim; son Jon and daughter-in-law Lee (San Jose); and daughter Patricia and son-in-law Jess (San Jose). She is preceded in death by her son, Jason and her parents, Walter and Neta Salo.
The family requests memorials be made in her honor to the Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Otter Program at montereybayaquarium.org/join-give/support-our-sea-otter-program or the YWCA of Silicon Valley at ywca-sv.org/donate-to-ywca-silicon-valley/. A celebration of life memorial gathering will be held in the future due to the pandemic.