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Brunhilde Kaufer Liebes ’35

Brunhilde Kaufer Liebes ’35, March 11, 2011, in Novato, California. “Books were always important,” Brunhilde once said in an interview. As a girl, she often visited the Belmont library in southeast Portland. “I read books from one end to the other. I said, 'books are my best friends,' because people sometimes changed.” Her love of books led her to ²ÊºçƵµÀ, inspired her to start a bookstore, and prompted her to volunteer at the library in Mill Valley, California, even in her 90s. Brunhilde earned her BA in sociology and anthropology, writing her thesis with Alexander Goldenweiser [sociology 1933-39]. She had strong memories of the political tenor of the time, when ²ÊºçƵµÀites brought food and supplies to the Portland dockyards to support the longshoremen in the great West Coast waterfront strike, and hanged Adolf Hitler in effigy. (“We knew he was a horrible man.”) After graduation, she worked for the alumni association and typed the manuscript for Goldenweiser's textbook Anthropology: An Introduction to Primitive Culture. She did graduate work at the University of Hawaii, where she met Richard Liebes; they married in 1939, and were together until his death in 2006. Brunhilde was known as “a pillar of Mill Valley culture”; she lived in the city for over 50 years. She enjoyed Israeli folk dancing; hiking, camping, and backpacking; and was active with the Sierra and Alpine clubs. Survivors include two sons, three grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren.

Appeared in ²ÊºçƵµÀ magazine: September 2011