Beloved wife, friend, sister, auntie and educator Eileen Marie Riordan Christopherson passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 9, 2025. She succumbed to metastatic cancer: her illness was very brief and her pain was well managed. She departed peacefully from this world at Kaiser Foundation South San Francisco Medical Center in a large, comfortable room, surrounded by family, friends and fellow teachers. Born in San Jose, California, Eileen grew up in Aptos, California. She attended Mar Vista Elementary School, Aptos Junior High School, and Aptos High School, where she graduated in 1982. She moved to San Francisco in 1988, where she earned a Bachelor’s Degree in 1991 from San Francisco State University. She received her Teacher’s Certification from the University of Pacific School of Education. Her career as an educator began years before she was hired by the South San Francisco Unified School District, where she would teach for 27 years at several schools— the last being Skyline Elementary in Daly City. She specialized in Kindergarten and early grades, and was recognized by those in her profession as an expert, an innovator and a pioneer in Transitional Kindergarten, the newest grade created in the California public education system. Her kindness, professionalism and academic skill made lasting and positive impressions on thousands of students.
She had many outside interests, hobbies and passions. She was an avid reader, loved travel and all things British, was an avid San Francisco Giants fan, and had recently become obsessed with Snoopy, the irrepressible beagle from Charles Shulz’s “Peanuts.” Her passion project was restoring a vintage 1960s camper, which was painted and decorated just the way she wanted. Eileen’s inseparable companion was Ella, the little brown dog who spent most of her time on Eileen’s lap.
Eileen had an extremely active social life, circles of friends she made and kept in the Bay Area, Santa Cruz and all over the world. She was funny as hell, engaging, smart, and in her own way completely fearless. She was always there for a friend or family member in need. Eileen always had a fantastic smile in every picture she was in: it was her inner radiance and happiness, which always shone through. Everyone she loved— and there were so, so many— loved her right back.
Eileen is survived by Scott Christopherson, her devoted husband of 25 years (but his one true love since 1983); siblings Morey, Michael and Sean Riordan; sisters-in-law Karen Fitzpatrick and Liz Perlman, and mother-in-law Loni Christopherson. She was auntie to Abigail and Madeline Fitzpatrick and Sai Riordan. Everyone who knows Eileen knows she is also survived by Penelope Sargent, her best friend for over 40 years. They had such a close friendship we all called them “the evil twins.” Penelope was simply a part of her family. Eileen was preceded in death by her parents Angelina Soto Riordan and O’Brien Riordan.
It’s said that love works like ripples in a pond, radiating outwards, touching everyone, changing everything. Her love was like waves, washing outward, touching lives far beyond our ability to comprehend. Every day we had with our Eileen was a blessing.
Charitable donations in Eileen’s memory can be made to Second Harvest Food Bank of Silicon Valley, an organization which directly helped many of Eileen’s students.
Services celebrating the life of Eileen Christopherson will be held in the St. Francis Chapel at Duggan’s Serra Mortuary, 500 Westlake Avenue, Daly City, CA 94014. St. Francis Chapel also includes the Henrietta Room, a large hall to the side with seating and kitchen facilities.
A visitation, with an emphasis on her life and career as an educator, will be held on Friday, February 28, from 4:00 to 8:00. All are welcome to attend— but especially co-workers, former students and parents whose lives were touched by “Mrs. Christopherson.”
The funeral service will be held on Saturday, March 1, at 12:00 Noon. This service is for family and friends but again, all are welcome to attend.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.