Volunteerism was a way of life for Anne Schallman Katz. She staffed and managed the gift shop she co-founded at San Francisco’s Mount Zion Medical Center.
She was active in the Women’s Guild of Congregation Emanu-El. She was a volunteer hostess for the United Services Organization (USO), entertaining servicemen as they came through San Francisco. “She was one of those people that if she touched your life, you always remembered her,” said her son, Robert Katz.
Katz died in San Mateo on July 2. She was 98.
Born in Chicago, she moved to San Francisco in 1924. In 1932, together with Roma K. Zederman, Katz founded the Ever-Ready Letter Service of San Francisco, one of the first companies to do direct-mail advertising. The business operated for 20 years, and former governor Friend W. Richardson was a client. He also pitched in sometimes, helping to stuff and lick envelopes.
Katz married Adrian J. Katz, an executive in the retail firm Sommer & Kaufmann. He predeceased her in 1983.
In addition to her Jewish volunteerism, Katz had a deep concern for unwed mothers, serving as director for a support agency called JACKIE and for a shelter called the Florence Crittenden Home.
In addition to her son, Robert, of Portola Valley, Katz is survived by three grandsons and nine great-grandchildren.
Donations can be sent to the Katz Family Fellowships, College of Letters and Science, University of California, 201 Campbell Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-2920.