Obituary of Roberta Friedman

Services will be Thursday in Aptos for Roberta Friedman who passed away at her Santa Cruz home on March 23 following a three year battle with cancer. Born in Douglaston Queens, New York, Roberta would have turned 56 years old on the day of her memorial, March 28. Earning her PhD in Neuropharmacology at Vanderbilt University in 1983, Roberta realized she loved good prose and so was drawn to complete the UCSC science writing program. After a brief stint at the Santa Cruz Sentinel she worked for 25 years as a science writer, both freelance and with BioCentury, WebMD, the ALS Association, and Stanford University Medical Center. Her work has been published in Psychology Today, California Wild, Natural History, The Scientist, Medscape, the San Francisco Examiner and elsewhere. An accomplished ceramicist, Roberta's work was recently displayed at Dos Gallery in Moss Landing and at the Santa Cruz Art League. She was a friend to many potters and artists through her association with Clay Creation in Santa Cruz and Mountain Arts in Ben Lomond. An avid environmentalist, she loved nature and hiked for many years with the Sierra Club and with her family, At three successive family homes Roberta created a garden environment with flowers blooming throughout the year. She is survived by her husband of 24 years, Paul Drescher of Santa Cruz and their three sons, Zach Drescher of Washington D.C., and Max and Benny Drescher both of Santa Cruz. She also leaves her brother, Arnold Friedman M.D. of Fresno, her aunt Thelma Friedman of Bronx, NY, and many loving cousins and extended family. Her memorial service will be Thursday, March 28, at Temple Beth El, 3055 Porter Gulch Road in Aptos, beginning at 11:30 a.m. A private burial will take place at Home of Peace Cemetery in Santa Cruz on Sunday. Charitable contributions in her honor may be made to NPR, Hospice of Santa Cruz, and AreYouDense.org, a breast cancer early detection advocacy organization.