Elizabeth “Beth” Marie Glass

Oct. 14, 1965–May 11, 2020

The shock of losing Elizabeth Glass unexpectedly is still reverberating throughout the large and diverse community of people who loved her, and will for a very long time. She was found at her home in Twin Peaks in San Francisco on May 11, 2020. She was 54. Elizabeth was a San Francisco resident for nearly 30 years by way of Queens, NY, where she was born, and Chandler, AZ, where she grew up. She was an Academy of Art University graduate (class of 1997), a professional photographer, an irreplaceable family assistant to the local Ghali family and their four children, and favorite aunt to her seven nieces and nephews, godmother to three of them. Of the many places in the world she loved, her absolute favorite was the venerable South End Rowing Club, one of San Francisco’s oldest institutions, founded in 1873. A member since 2003, Elizabeth was the rare athlete who participated in all four of the club’s sports—bay swimming, rowing, running and handball— and whose many friendships were forged across every one of them. She donated thousands of hours over the years volunteering—as board member, fundraiser, organizer, photographer, pilot, cook, bartender, dishwasher and everything in between. She was the epitome of what made the South End a community and not just a sports club. Voted South End Member of the Year in 2016, she was the youngest to receive this honor in the club’s nearly 150-year history. She was a proud Hurley Girl rower, Los Locos swim pilot, Chunky Dunker Tahoe relay swimmer, and Bondi Iceberg.

Elizabeth will be lovingly remembered as someone who SHOWED UP—for so many in so many ways, and always with a smile. Kayaking for 12 hours to pilot an endurance swim. Planning her best friend’s wedding. Caring for her mother at the end of her life. Organizing family get-togethers. Cooking and feeding relay athletes for 48 hours straight. Crewing for triathlons at 3 AM. Making space in her small apartment for friends displaced from California fires. Helping elderly friends recover from surgery or cancer. Cleaning out your parents’ house after they die. Organizing your closet, your garage, your home, your life. She was inclusive, welcoming, kind, openminded, industrious, mischievous, fun and the queen of spontaneous adventures. She is missed.

Elizabeth is reunited with her parents, William Joseph Glass, who, like Elizabeth, left this earth much too early, and Virginia Joan Goetz, whose death in 2016 was an especially hard blow.

She is survived by her three siblings: twins Judy and Tom and baby sister Trish; seven absolutely adored nieces and nephews — Tricina, Brad, Matthew, Noah, Joe, Ariel and Gabrielle; and the Ghali family, whose children she treasured and cared for as if her own: Avery, Sadie, Finley and little Cooper, who at 8 years old loved Elizabeth so much he asked her to marry him. (She said yes.) A memorial at the South End will be held when it is safe to do so. In the meantime, donations may be made ‘In Memory of Elizabeth Glass’ to Baykeeper.org, which protects the San Francisco Bay.