LIFF KJERULF GREER

08/20/1948 - 03/28/2023

Liff was born on August

20, 1948 in Los Angeles, California to Hans and Sigrid Kjerulf, who had immigrated from Norway. Liff graduated from the Marlborough School in Los Angeles and went on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in English from Parsons College in Fairfield, Iowa. She lived and worked in Manhattan Beach, California until 1974. She was a California girl through and through and would often regale her Houston friends with stories from her California days like parties with Patty Duke and seeing concerts at the Whiskey A Go Go.

Shortly after moving to Houston, she met her husband, Tom, on the tennis court, and they soon fell in love. They were married on February 15, 1975, and later had two sons, Tommy and Beau, and many pets over the years. Liff was a devoted and loving mother, always there with a strong hug. She was ecstatic when her grandson, Atticus, was born in 2015 and truly relished watching him grow up. She loved nothing more than time spent with the entire family. Her energy and kindness drew people to her, and her interest and loyalty continually strengthened her relationships. These qualities made her an incredible mother, grandmother, and friend to so many.

Liff was a fixture in her Briargrove Park neighborhood on account of her daily dog walks and long-standing involvement in the tennis league there. She also regularly attended Jackie Sorensen aerobics classes for over 30 years. Liff also loved music— The Beatles, The Beach Boys, and Elton John. And she had a particular fondness for the band Chicago and its singer, Peter Cetera.

In the 1980s, she founded Photography by Liff, a successful photography business, which she ran for decades.

She credited her photography business as the reason she was so good at remembering names. She loved hearing from families whose photos she had taken in the past, which happened regularly, on account of her incredibly warm disposition.

Liff was the type of woman who exuded warmth and kindness to everyone she encountered, human or animal. She was genuinely interested in the lives of the people she cared about, and no detail went unturned. In their adult years, her children would marvel at how she seemed to know all about the lives of their friends, even those she’d never met.

Though she lived in Houston for almost 50 years and was incredibly happy with the life she built there, Liff never quite acclimated to the heat and humidity and loved to escape to the mountains in the summers, especially to Sun Valley, Idaho. And she always remained a California girl at heart.

Liff is survived by her husband, Tom; sons, Tommy and Beau; grandson, Atticus; dog, Revy; and cat, Brinkley. She is also survived by her honorary daughter, caregiver, and all-around “security blanket” over the last many months, Katherine Schultz (Tommy’s partner), as well as numerous dear friends. Liff is preceded in death by her parents, Hans and Sigrid Kjerulf; her sister, Mia Kjerulf; her Golden Retrievers, Chelsea, Chloe, Summer, and Ketchum; and her cats, Tuffy, Lady, Sylvester, Butterball, Tugger, Lambert, Maximus, Bailey, Cleo, and Piper.

Liff passed away peacefully, surrounded by those she loved most, on March

28, 2023, from lung cancer. She lived almost seven years after receiving a Stage IV diagnosis, and truly thrived for most of that time on account of immunotherapy, which allowed her to continue partaking in the activities she loved so much. Even when the immunotherapy was no longer effective, and her physical health deteriorated, she remained overwhelmingly positive. What she lacked in physical stature, she more than made up for in grit, a valiant fighter to the very end.

In the words of her beloved Peter Cetera, Liff brought meaning, inspiration, and feeling to the lives of so many people, and she will be greatly missed.

A “Celebration of Liff ” will take place Friday, April 28. For more detailed celebration information, please visit www. bradshawcarter.com/tributes.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Liff ’s name may be made to Golden Retriever Rescue of Houston, Special Pals, Lung Cancer Research Foundation, or a charity of your choosing