Alexa Stuart Frisbie

At the University of Virginia, Alexa earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a master’s degree in Education. She met her husband, Rick, at UVA. Alexa relished her time in Charlottesville and, like every aspect of her life, was ‘all-in’ on the experience, as an editor & writer for The Cavalier Daily, a DJ for WUVA, and a sister in the Kappa Delta sorority. She also worked several jobs to put herself through school.

Alexa went to San Francisco in 1991, where Rick had moved, and immediately fell in love with the Bay Area. She taught in San Francisco’s public and private schools, trained teachers, created award-winning curriculum for NASA & UC Berkeley’s Bay Area Writing Project, and published articles on exemplary practices in teaching writing, math, and science for various publications.

In 2009, Alexa founded Workshop Education, an after-school program of enrichment classes, which serves thousands of students, employs her beloved colleagues, and has been lauded by many educational publications. Her passion for high quality educational enrichment is/was what drove the program.

Alexa rock-climbed the face of Half Dome in Yosemite, competed in multiple triathlons including her favorite Escape from Alcatraz, travelled extensively, read and painted passionately, wrote poetry every day, and volunteered to spend time with the elderly. Rarely a week went by when she wasn’t hiking and mountain biking amongst local Redwoods. She loved The West. Her excursions were many, and included solo camping in Alaska, embarking on good ol’ road-trips, snowboarding its mountains, skydiving in the Wine Country, hiking in and out of the Grand Canyon, day-long treks followed by relaxed nights next to the campfire, and rafting so many of its rivers. Rick and she were engaged in Kauai. She loved going to the Hawaiian Islands for family vacations.

After her cancer diagnosis in October 2019, Alexa wrote an amazing book, Secrets of Your Child’s Education, despite all of the chemotherapies and operations. Her book is such a labor of love. We so admired her achievement. It was a blessing, when she was able to see its first copy in her last week. She just had such an indomitable drive matched by the kindest heart.

Her beautiful son Drake was born in 2001, and he is, as Alexa put it, “The greatest joy of my life.”

Alexa is survived by her husband of 24 years Rick, son Drake, her brothers Doug, Bruce, Charlie and sister Annelle. She missed dearly her mother Nelwyn, WWII hero pilot father Charles, and oldest brother John Patrick. Alexa loved, unconditionally, her nieces and nephews, including Alli, Emily, Lea, and Brandon.

She will be missed so much, by so many. We all thought she was immortal. Yet, we are so thankful to have had her stunning smile and big, radiant eyes in our lives. She was such a beautiful human being, who did so much for so many, but desired no credit for all that she gave.

In lieu of flowers, please feel free to purchase her book, if you are so inclined. It brought together a lifetime of learning in education. Proceeds will be donated to vetted educational charities that help children. Or, the Lu Family Fund at PalTown.org, which provides direct financial assistance to Stage IV CRC patients seeking a second medical opinion.