Obituaries are underwritten by Sinai Memorial, the Bay Area’s nonprofit Jewish funeral home.
Brittany Serena Blum Bradford
Feb. 24, 1992–April 12, 2026
Brittany Serena Blum Bradford, of Greenpoint, NY, passed away on April 12, 2026, at the age of 34. Born on February 24, 1992, in San Francisco, Brittany confronted illness with grace and generosity of spirit, inspiring all who knew her with her courage and compassion. She will be remembered for creativity, resilience, and vitality, as well as the love and light she brought to the lives of others. Her dramatic flair, artistry and presence left a lasting impact on everyone who knew her.
Brittany was raised in a close-knit family in San Francisco and formed lifelong friendships while attending Brandeis Hillel Day School and University High School. Brittany graduated from Northwestern University, with a Bachelor of Science in Theater and Creative Writing. She was deeply devoted to her craft and especially loved studying Chekhov, finding in his work profound and emotional truths, stillness, and humanity that resonated deeply with her own artistic sensibility.
Brittany was also a student of vanguard arts. She was inspired by the films of David Lynch, whose surreal, dreamlike storytelling and emotional undercurrents resonated strongly with her own artistic awareness. She admired the way Lynch blended beauty and darkness, the ordinary and the uncanny, and often returned to his films as a source of creative inspiration. His influence could be felt in her attention to mood, texture, and emotional ambiguity, and was especially evident in her work as Creator, Producer and Director of Eschaton, a global virtual nightclub featuring unconventional acts such as a contortionist, magic tricks, and a giant rat performing striptease. According to the New York Times, this novel immersive theater experience explored performers’ existential proximity of audience in which Brittany shaped a tone that embraced layered meaning, of life’s precariousness, atmosphere, and psychological depth. Brittany was also herself a talented actor. Her film work included a recent appearance in A Complete Unknown and a leading role in By the Roots, which premiered recently in both San Francisco and the Beverly Hills Film Festival.
Brittany was a devoted wife to her husband, Ray, and a loving mother to her daughter, Rose Seren, who was her everything and the center of her world. Brittany and Ray shared a storybook romance, beginning with their meeting online, growing into a profound and unwavering partnership fortified by a wedding celebrated in her hospital room. Their marriage was defined by extraordinary devotion, tenderness, and steadfast love through every season of life. Brittany and Ray adored one another and their connections manifest as the greatest enduring lights of her life. She especially treasured long drives along the California coastline with Ray, listening to curated soundtracks, creating memories that will be held forever. They shared many adventures, traveling the globe together, especially following her many medical treatments, both locally and internationally.
Brittany also shared a deep and lasting bond with her younger sister, Bridget, and cherished family above all else. She and her sister shared everything and inspired one another, embracing different passions that bonded them together. Brittany brought joy to those around her with her warmth, humor, and unmistakable glamour. Even in the smallest moments, Brittany’s kindness shone through. She had a gift for making others feel seen, offering a warm compliment to strangers in elevators and hospital waiting rooms, often on their shoes, earrings, or sweaters, leaving a lasting impression of her empathy.
Brittany was known for her signature curls and bright red lipstick, and she found beauty in the everyday. She loved California wildflowers, especially poppies, delighted in collecting refrigerator magnets from her travels, and had a love for vintage clothing, drawn to pieces with history and character. She also cherished simple pleasures, from a perfectly made dirty chai latte to Giorgio’s gluten-free pizza to chocolate truffles, which became a cherished (and lovingly enforced) prerequisite for visitors in her final days. She loved skiing fresh powder through the trees of Sugar Bowl, finding freedom and joy in quiet rhythms of the mountains with her uncle. Brittany was also a lifelong fan of Harry Potter, finding imagination in its world, returning often as a source of wonder and familiarity, especially as shared with her lifelong friends.
Brittany is survived by husband, Ray Bradford; daughter, Rose Seren; parents, Robert and Dana Blum; sister, Bridget (Julian); grandmother, Phyllis Blum; grandparents, Mel and Marcia Paul, uncles Andy (Stephie), Leonard (Missy), and Steven (Jennifer); as well as many beloved cousins.
In lieu of flowers, the family kindly requests that any donations be made in Brittany’s memory to the research laboratory of Ingo Mellinghoff, MD, at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. May her memory be for a blessing.
Norman Goodwin
Oct. 14, 1937–April 8, 2026
Treasured husband to RoseAnn Goodwin. One more day would never be enough.
A kind and gentle man, generous, and thoughtful to his family and friends to whom he brought much humor.
Loved Judaism, the Boston Red Sox, Nascar Racing, travel, fine restaurants, Pacific Starr King and Philanthropic Marblehead Masonic Lodges, and Bay City Lodge Oddfellows.
Dedicated volunteer to the Jewish Family and Children’s Services and Cafe by the Bay Holocaust Survivors for 18 years.
Diane Greenberg Gould
Aug. 17, 1932–April 1, 2026
Diane Greenberg Gould passed away peacefully in Jerusalem on April 1st, 2026. She was 93 years old.
She was born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1932. She had a large extended family and grew up surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. To those who knew her she was upbeat, animated and happy. She always had a very positive outlook on life and exuded warmth and kindness to all who knew her.
She met David on a blind date when she was 21 and was married shortly thereafter. She and David lived in Texas for a few years where David was stationed in the Air Force and Diane worked as a legal secretary. They then moved to the Bay Area where they worked in the family soft goods business. They settled in Piedmont and had three daughters – Miriam, Naomi and Janice.
Diane was quite active in Jewish communal life and volunteered for various organizations, most notably Women’s American ORT. She believed strongly in giving people job skills so that they could be self-sufficient and live with dignity. She volunteered with a variety of organizations including the Oakland Jewish Community Center, Israel Bonds, and the East Bay Jewish Federation where she took on leadership roles. She was also involved in the Koret Israel Scholars Program and the Agency for Jewish Education of the Greater East Bay. She had Torah study groups in her home, visited Israel frequently and was involved in the Brandeis Bardin Institute in Southern California and the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. She was the first treasurer of Oakland Hebrew Day School and volunteered her services there for several years.
Since discovering Rav Kook in the mid-’80s she felt his words helped define the life she wanted to personify: “The purely righteous do not complain of the dark, they increase the light; they do not complain of evil, they increase the good; they do not complain of heresy, but increase faith; they do not complain of ignorance, they increase wisdom.” This very much exemplified who she was.
At age 91, she and David moved to Jerusalem to be closer to her daughter Naomi and her family.
She is survived by her three children, seven grandchildren and eleven great-grandchildren.
Donations in her honor can be made at friendsofyadsarah.org.