Longtime Santa Rosa High School librarian Grace Bridgeman died Nov. 7 of Alzheimer's disease at Healdsburg Senior Living. She was 92.
She was born in Taos, N.M., in 1915 and was one of 15 children. She moved to Sonoma County with her husband, Ralph Bridgeman, in 1939.
Although she had a high school education, she was more or less self-taught, said her son, Ron Bridgeman of Santa Rosa.
"She was a voracious reader, particularly with anything about English history and kings and queens. And she loved novels," Bridgeman said.
Grace Bridgeman took a part-time job at Santa Rosa High in 1956. A year later she was working at the high school full time, coordinating the book room and audio-visual facilities. She worked there for 25 years.
She mentored many students, mostly boys, who volunteered in the library delivering books and other resources to teachers, her son said.
"She got to know her boys pretty well," he said.
In the 1970s, Bridgeman organized Santa Rosa High faculty trips to Reno, even though she was not much of a gambler herself, her son said said.
"She loved the camaraderie of being with people and being with her friends and when they died she would still talk about trips they had taken, to Reno or the coast," he said.
In addition to her son, Bridgeman is survived by daughters Helen Negri of Santa Rosa, Mary Marcotte of San Jose and Betty Salzman of Healdsburg; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Services are Friday, 3:30 p.m., at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Santa Rosa.
-- Laura Norton
She was born in Taos, N.M., in 1915 and was one of 15 children. She moved to Sonoma County with her husband, Ralph Bridgeman, in 1939.
Although she had a high school education, she was more or less self-taught, said her son, Ron Bridgeman of Santa Rosa.
"She was a voracious reader, particularly with anything about English history and kings and queens. And she loved novels," Bridgeman said.
Grace Bridgeman took a part-time job at Santa Rosa High in 1956. A year later she was working at the high school full time, coordinating the book room and audio-visual facilities. She worked there for 25 years.
She mentored many students, mostly boys, who volunteered in the library delivering books and other resources to teachers, her son said.
"She got to know her boys pretty well," he said.
In the 1970s, Bridgeman organized Santa Rosa High faculty trips to Reno, even though she was not much of a gambler herself, her son said said.
"She loved the camaraderie of being with people and being with her friends and when they died she would still talk about trips they had taken, to Reno or the coast," he said.
In addition to her son, Bridgeman is survived by daughters Helen Negri of Santa Rosa, Mary Marcotte of San Jose and Betty Salzman of Healdsburg; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Services are Friday, 3:30 p.m., at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Santa Rosa.
-- Laura Norton
Longtime Santa Rosa High School librarian Grace Bridgeman died Nov. 7 of Alzheimer's disease at Healdsburg Senior Living. She was 92.
She was born in Taos, N.M., in 1915 and was one of 15 children. She moved to Sonoma County with her husband, Ralph Bridgeman, in 1939.
Although she had a high school education, she was more or less self-taught, said her son, Ron Bridgeman of Santa Rosa.
"She was a voracious reader, particularly with anything about English history and kings and queens. And she loved novels," Bridgeman said.
Grace Bridgeman took a part-time job at Santa Rosa High in 1956. A year later she was working at the high school full time, coordinating the book room and audio-visual facilities. She worked there for 25 years.
She mentored many students, mostly boys, who volunteered in the library delivering books and other resources to teachers, her son said.
"She got to know her boys pretty well," he said.
In the 1970s, Bridgeman organized Santa Rosa High faculty trips to Reno, even though she was not much of a gambler herself, her son said said.
"She loved the camaraderie of being with people and being with her friends and when they died she would still talk about trips they had taken, to Reno or the coast," he said.
In addition to her son, Bridgeman is survived by daughters Helen Negri of Santa Rosa, Mary Marcotte of San Jose and Betty Salzman of Healdsburg; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Services are Friday, 3:30 p.m., at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Santa Rosa.
-- Laura Norton
She was born in Taos, N.M., in 1915 and was one of 15 children. She moved to Sonoma County with her husband, Ralph Bridgeman, in 1939.
Although she had a high school education, she was more or less self-taught, said her son, Ron Bridgeman of Santa Rosa.
"She was a voracious reader, particularly with anything about English history and kings and queens. And she loved novels," Bridgeman said.
Grace Bridgeman took a part-time job at Santa Rosa High in 1956. A year later she was working at the high school full time, coordinating the book room and audio-visual facilities. She worked there for 25 years.
She mentored many students, mostly boys, who volunteered in the library delivering books and other resources to teachers, her son said.
"She got to know her boys pretty well," he said.
In the 1970s, Bridgeman organized Santa Rosa High faculty trips to Reno, even though she was not much of a gambler herself, her son said said.
"She loved the camaraderie of being with people and being with her friends and when they died she would still talk about trips they had taken, to Reno or the coast," he said.
In addition to her son, Bridgeman is survived by daughters Helen Negri of Santa Rosa, Mary Marcotte of San Jose and Betty Salzman of Healdsburg; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Services are Friday, 3:30 p.m., at Holy Spirit Catholic Church in Santa Rosa.
-- Laura Norton
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