Elizabeth Doll Cayne (Deters)

“I’ll try to be around and about. But if I’m not, then you know that I’m behind your eyelids, and I’ll meet you there.” - Terence McKenna

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Elizabeth Doll Cayne (Deters), 39, left her body on June 9, 2021, surrounded by her loving and adoring family. Elizabeth navigated her cancer diagnosis with poise, strength, bravery, resilience, dignity, laughter and grace for nearly five years, traveling across the country and the world in search of healing and meaning. She came to understand that, in the words of Ram Dass, of whom she grew so fond, we are all always just walking each other home.

A self-proclaimed southern belle born in Louisville, Kentucky to Edward Deters and Beverly Sarki, Elizabeth treasured her role as a devoted and loving “mama bear” to her pride and joy, her son Leonidas (“Lee”), and as a wife, life partner and best friend to her husband Brian. Lee, Elizabeth and Brian could be seen together daily on their long and winding strolls in San Francisco, where Elizabeth and Brian first met and fell in love, or along the beach in Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA, where they most recently resided with their goofball pup Buster. Elizabeth graduated from Louisville Collegiate School and Yale University before formally embarking on her true passion and dream of becoming an artist, completing her MFA at San Francisco Art Institute. Elizabeth’s art humorously and whimsically explored femininity, domesticity, nature, and mythology through mediums such as collage, video, paint, and performance. Her work has been exhibited at SFMOMA and Yale’s British Art Center, among numerous other galleries. Elizabeth also dedicated her time to several philanthropic pursuits: sitting on the board of Root Division, a visual arts non-profit in San Francisco, and supporting several institutions centered on cancer research and treatment, including UCSF and City of Hope.

But Elizabeth will be best remembered by family and friends for her enduring humor, wit, kindness, and constant care for others, as well as for her playful love of late-night dancing, including signature moves such as “deer in headlights.”

She is survived by her son Lee; husband Brian; parents Edward Deters and Beverly Sarki (Michael); three brothers, Ward Deters (Chamie), Drew Deters (Neada), and Van Sarki; and numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Love Serve Remember Foundation or the UCSF Foundation (please include “in memory of Elizabeth Cayne [B0683]” to ensure donations go towards colon cancer research).

-“Do what you do with another human being, but never put them out of your heart.” - Kabir