Brenda “Iris” Crider passed away on April 21. She was 82.
She was born in Brooklyn, New York, on April 15, 1939, the middle child of George Tobias Goldwater and Ruth Greenberg Goldwater.
In August 1952, the Goldwater Family moved to Dallas, Texas. Brenda, later known as Iris, graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas and shortly afterward returned to New York City. While in New York, she married Richard Crider.
They had a daughter, Debra Jean Crider. The marriage ended a few years later. Iris subsequently lived in Oregon and Los Angeles, eventually settling in Berkeley, California.
Iris cared about people, especially the poor and oppressed. In the ’60s and ’70s, she marched for many causes. She demonstrated for the rights of African Americans, she walked picket lines supporting the United Farm Worker’s grape boycott and she rallied for Women’s liberation many times with her young daughters at her side.
She is predeceased by her parents and older sister, Anita Holtzman.
She is survived by her daughters, Debra Crider and Jody Rivera (adopted in 1968); her grandson Kharl Stuart; her brother, Josef Goldwater, and his wife, Cheryl; her nephews Jason Holtzman, Mickey Holtzman, Jason Goldwater and Geoff Goldwater; and her niece, Robin Holtzman.
Iris was a longtime resident of the Harriet Tubman Terrace Apartments; the residents mourn her loss as well as many in the community. She is gone but never forgotten.
A memorial service was held on Monday, April 26.
