Gretchen Dale Kittredge was born on October 17, 1936 in Mount Vernon, Washington. She is the daughter of David Kittredge and Ella “Impie” Nelson Kittredge, who were living in San Francisco in 1936 but traveled to Washington to be with family for Gretchen’s birth. Gretchen, known affectionately as “Nami” to her granddaughters, died peacefully on Saturday, October 25, 2025 in Alameda.
Gretchen was born into a very dynamic family. Her parents were both artistic, with her father working in San Francisco under the Works Progress Administration, painting murals throughout the City, including Coit Tower and The Beach Chalet. He also worked with Diego Rivera painting a mural at the San Francisco Stock Exchange, and attended the second wedding of Diego and Frida Kahlo with her parents. Her mother studied art and fashion design in Paris. Both parents were politically active, engaging her family in rousing discussions at the dinner table, pulling Gretchen into the world of politics and activism.
When the war broke out, Gretchen’s father signed up as a Merchant Marine. Gretchen tearfully said goodbye to Japanese friends who were forced to go to internment camps, while her own family moved from San Francisco to Marin County to distance themselves from possible bomb threats in the city. When the war ended, Impie moved the family back to North Beach, and Gretchen’s dad was estranged, suffering from PTSD like many other fathers of friends post-war. With an artistic single mother, Gretchen grew up attending musicals, theaters, visiting artist studios and museums with her mother.
Gretchen attended the University of California, Berkeley and worked in its public library, processing children’s books. There, immersed in Berkeley’s politically active environment, she became involved in the Free Speech Movement as part of the greater Civil Rights Movement – at the epicenter of an era of student activism.
While at Cal Berkeley, Gretchen’s friend asked her to join her for an interview to be a flight attendant at Pan American Airlines. Though unprepared, she was hired and flew with Pan Am for two years, developing a love for travel. She returned to finish her education and again began fighting for the rights of students to organize. She became the treasurer for the Free Speech Movement at Berkeley. She married her college sweetheart, Thomas Miller, at the Claremont Hotel in Berkeley, and moved to New York City to accompany him in a graduate program at NYU. The marriage lasted two years.
Gretchen stayed in New York and started her educational career as a teacher in New York City where she met her second husband, Jeffrey Mackler, also a teacher. Their oldest daughter was born in New York, and quickly Gretchen knew she did not want to raise her children on the East Coast and moved back to the Bay Area where her two sons, Philip and Aaron, were born. Gretchen took a teaching job in Alameda, teaching English as a Second Language. She was very involved with Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta and the United Farm Workers in the movement for better working conditions for farm workers. In support of the farm workers, and to instill ethics and values in their three young children, Gretchen and Jeffrey refused to buy grapes, despite pleading from the kids.
In the 1980s Gretchen was active in the Coalition of Labor Union Women (CLUW). Through CLUW, she became an active member of the National Organization for Women (NOW), as she passionately supported abortion rights. Gretchen would get up at the crack of dawn to help women get through protest barriers at abortion clinics, supporting a woman’s right to choose, and was instrumental in opposing NOW’s leadership decision to move away from abortion rights as a priority.
Gretchen’s life was dedicated to teaching, to her family, and to social justice. One of her passions has been teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), so that non-English speakers could have the opportunity to learn and not be left behind. As an advocate for bilingual education, she taught in this field for 25 years. She finished her teaching tenure at Island High School, an alternative high school for students needing flexible schedules or extra credit support.
Gretchen was very engaged with the Alameda teachers unions. Once collective bargaining came to California in 1976, teachers could vote and negotiate holidays, school schedules, class size, and unions in contracts. Gretchen appreciated this, as it encouraged teachers to lean in on important issues, bigger than the normal day-to-day classroom curriculum. Teachers had the opportunity to be active participants in their community, and this thrilled Gretchen. The change prompted her to travel the world to attend national and international conventions with other delegates when working with the school unions. She served for many years as the President of the Alameda Teachers Association and later as President of the Retired Teachers Union.
In 1999, Gretchen married longtime friend, political science professor and activist Dr. Arthur Lipow. Gretchen and Arthur co-founded the Alameda Public Affairs Forum in 2004 and the Center for Global Peace and Democracy in 2007. Gretchen was also on the board of the Alameda Citizens Task Force (ACT), striving for responsible development and opposing developers who were not considering the needs of the greater community when looking to add thousands of housing units to an island with limited points of access. She often spoke at Alameda City Hall meetings or was out in the community petitioning for signatures.
Gretchen was a born organizer and used her work ethic and passion to drive herself and engage others in the community. She lived by the mantra of “ordinary people doing extraordinary things,” and often quoted her grandfather’s motto of taking action: “It doesn’t matter where you come from, it’s what you do today.”
Gretchen is preceded in death by her husband, Arthur Lipow, and her sister, Jan Karen Gilliam Thomson. She is survived by her brother Mark Kittredge, daughter Jennifer Roloff (Todd), son Philip Mackler, son Aaron Mackler (Stephanie), and granddaughters Peyton Roloff, Taylor Roloff, Hazel Mackler, and Cora Mackler, stepchildren Stephanie Lipow (Tony Walecka), Jenny Lipow, Nicholas Lipow, and step-granddaughters Sydney Lipow and Toby Walecka, and the beloved family dog, “Little Man,” who visited her often.
A Celebration of Life will be held on January 11. If you are interested in attending, please email her daughter, Jennifer Roloff ([email protected]). In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Alameda Citizen’s Task Force.
