William J. Brauer  (1944 - 2026)

About Bill:

Bill died July 29, 2026, the result of lung cancer.

Bill grew up in San Francisco, where he graduated from George Washington High School. At Princeton, he majored in English, appeared in the Theatre Intime production of The Brothers Karamazov, worked in the student center all four years, and assisted in the Admissions Office. He belonged to Campus Club, where he captained the 1966 IAA volleyball championship team. He and George Dawson were roommates all four years.

Bill graduated from Yale Law School, where he roomed with Tom Allison all three years. He then worked for two years at Rosebud Sioux Legal Services, in South Dakota, followed by four years in France and Denmark, where he waited tables, taught English as a second language, and learned French and Danish. 

Returning to the United States, he earned an M.A. in English at San Francisco State University and spent 20 years with the Morrison Foerster law firm. Later, he worked in a two-man law firm, then as a solo practitioner.

A man of many interests and talents, Bill took a two-year sabbatical to write poetry and play second violin in the Kensington (Cal.) Symphony Orchestra. He served as president and board chair of Crisis Support Services of Alameda County. 

He loved parades. When he happened upon one, he was likely to join in, trombone in hand.   

The Class extends its condolences to Bill’s wife Nora Silver, daughters Anna Casale and Sarah Brauer, stepchildren Jed and Mara Silver, and grandchildren Teo, Ona, Liv, and Willa Silver, and Sam Casale.

Nora is planning an event in a couple of months, intended as a combination memorial and launch of the book on which Bill was working. Information to follow when available.

Nassau Herald:

Bill's Response to Jon Holman's Birthday Card (Oct. 26, 2017):

Hi Jon,

I just now got around to taking a look at the letter you sent with your card a month or two ago, wherein you bemoaned the paucity of details you have about my life, and tasked me with setting that right. Let me be the first to acknowledge that details about my life (until now) are about as compelling as the sound of oatmeal cooking; but you have asked, so I will give. You might want to have a clothespin handy to counter a predictable, if unwanted, spate of yawning.

I was taught and brought up in San Francisco, CA and attended public schools named after dead white men: Francis Scott Elementary, A.P. Giannini Jr. High, and George Washington High. At Princeton I worked in the Student Center all four years, attaining the exalted status of manager my junior and senior years; roomed with George Dawson all four years and with Larry Rosenberg, Geoff Reinhard, Paul Birkeland and Jim Dashow as well, in Witherspoon, Blair and Holder Halls; played a significant role, the name of which escapes me, in a Theater Intime production of The Brothers Karamazov, adapted for the stage by a Princeton PhD candidate as part of his thesis; joined Campus Club and captained its volleyball team, which won the PU title my senior year; captained the PU tiddly winks team (no kidding, the competition was sponsored by some business enterprise-hoping no doubt to amass mountains of goodwill encouraging people to buy their product, which apparently did not sell itself), which was eliminated decisively from the tournament in the first round by Rutgers; majored in English Literature, writing in a carrel deep in the bowels of Witherspoon Library a thesis on the use of myth in Shakespeare's A Midsummer night's Dream, Troilus and Cressida and Antony and Cleopatra, graduating Magna Cum Laude; participated with gusto in the Spring Riot, considering myself richly rewarded for my effortswhen a very tall Proctor whose name is on the tip of my tongue avowed that Princeton needed said riot as it needed seven belly buttons; won around $3,000 playing poker at Campus Club, money I needed to pay the balance of tuition, room and board in excess of my financial aid because-for reasons I will disclose to you when and if we become closer pals-my parents and I had reached a detente where they no longer paid anything toward, what they said I claimed to be my "education"; hung out with, inter alia, Tom Allison (with whom I subsequently roomed for three years at The Yale Law School), Steve Dunham, John Bryson, Curt Clay, Bill Elliot, Peter Freeman, Jeff Norton, Bob Purrington, John Secondi; stayed in my room in Witherspoon Hall over the Christmas recess my freshman year while working in the admissions office, as I was unable to afford an airline ticket back to SF; for Christmas my sophomore year organized a PrincetonNasser charter flight from La Guardia to SFO on a propeller plane that took 14 hours to make the flight, having had to make an emergency landing in Des Moines because it was running out of gas; was returning to campus from a haircut on Nassau Street when I learned that President Kennedy had been shot; just hated, being a California boy, the cold dark dismal New Jersey winters-and thrilled at the agonizingly beautiful spring; and probably other stuff I can't think of.

It's been all downhill since then: three years at Yale Law, including summer of 1968 in New Orleans in the office of Ben Smith, a nationally prominent civil rights lawyer, where I was arrested by the local constabulary for what was the first and with luck the only time; two years as a Reginald Heber Smith Community Law fellow at Rosebud Sioux Legal Services, Rosebud South Dakota; four years in France (Grenoble and Besancon) and Denmark (suburban Copenhagen) playing basketball, skiing, waiting tables, teaching ESL, learning French and Danish; returning to the U.S. in 1976 to take an M.A. in English at S.F. State, practice general civil law for the next 20 years at Morrison Foerster, then in·a partnership with my father's college roommate, then as a sole practitioner; marrying Susan Bertin with whom I had Anna, now 31, married and living in Florida and hopefully getting ready to spawn, and Sarah, 35, living in Corte Madera, CA, unmarried and likely to remain so; moving on after about 10 years to marry Jan Holmgren, President of Mills College, taking two years off the practice of law to write poetry, none of which, to my dismay, turned out to be publishable; played second violin in the Kensington Symphony for a few years; ducked out after another 10 years and married Nora, now a professor and director of the center for nonprofit and public leadership at the Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley, who has two adult children from a previous marriage, one of whom has yielded Teo, the love of my life, now four years old, with whom I've had the joy to hang out with since he was a few months old all day every Friday and 2-3 hours every Monday and Thursday; the marriage with Nora is now up to 11 years so likely to endure at least for the present--in the words of the late Jeff Wong '65, also a three-timer, "If I ever have the urge to marry again, I'll just find a woman I hate and buy her a house"; take lunch with my 97-year-old mother every Saturday; volunteer at Alameda County Crisis Support Services; attend weekly meetings of our local OFLC (Old Farts Luncheon Club); visit my favorite place in the world, Todi Italy, as often as possible (I proposed marriage to Nora-to my surprise, actually-at the base of the Cascade delle Marmore, and we honeymooned there; und so weiter.

Health good not great for a 73 year old male. Lost about an inch height over the last decade. Gained undisclosed inches in girth over that period. Generally quite happy and fulfilled. Enjoying retirement; should have done it 30 years ago. Don't smoke, drink or fool around.

So that's a start, Jon. Let me know if I left anything out. Best,

Bill

PS: How was the lunch?

Classmate Tributes and Memorials:

Steve Dunham:

I cried when I heard the news about Billy's  (as I have called him for over 60 years) death.  Through close friendship at Princeton and Yale Law School, and for decades since, Billy has been the sweetest, most compassionate and considerate, loving, funniest and quirkiest, interesting, and thoughtful friend one could ever have.  He was a true mensch, a San Francisco original, authentic to his core, unusual at Princeton and out of place in law school, always a free spirit.

 

I will offer just a few of many, many recollections of a very, very special friend.  At Princeton Billy was an English major, a Campus Cub original, and a poet.  Not really a "hippie" or a "beatnik" or a "radical" - he was too humanistic and funny and cared too much about others for those labels - but certainly in style or culture ahead of, or maybe to the side of is better, the typical Princeton undergraduate. He wore a silly hat, laughed at himself more than others, had artistic interests, brought fresh perspectives to every topic, and was a genuine friend to all who knew him.

 

Billy was also, I venture to say, the best volleyball "setter"  and defensive player at Princeton.  Campus Club won the Club championship in 1966 in volleyball because Billy could set the ball for kills by Bill Elliot and others better than anybody and his low to the ground stature (i.e. small)  and surprising quickness allowed him to dig out hits by opposing teams.  In an era before intercollegiate volleyball existed at Princeton, Billy was the best player at the school at the time.  Today he would receive an NIL package (legal even at Princeton) and be recruited by colleges across the country, even the West Coast powerhouses, though as a true San Franciscan I don't think he would set foot in Southern California.

 

A large group from our Class at Princeton went on directly to Yale Law School.  Vietnam probably had something to do with it.  Four of us from Campus Club - Billy, Tom Allison, Ted Tezlaff and I - asked to room together.  Tom was Billy's roommate and the four of us were in the same entryway and on the same floor in the Law School building. I have many memories of that year sharing roommate  space  and course work with Billy.  He had two gerbils he named after a famous case in Torts where the plaintiff was bitten by a dog after turning the wrong way after crossing the bag at first base. He put firecrackers on a ledge outside the windows of our room to scare off the pigeons (or worse).  Billy convinced the law school to give him credit for a graduate school Shakespeare class on the grounds it would be as relevant to whatever job he might get as a law school class (i.e. none, because he had little interest in a legal career).

 

And, with apologies to those with no interest in the law, my favorite:  Billy and I shared a small class of about 20 students for Constitutional Law.  Our group stayed together and shared all other classes that first semester in Law School.  Con Law was our actual very first class, at 9 am on a Thursday morning.  Our professor was the famous conservative Robert Bork (of "to be borked" fame in a later Supreme Court confirmation hearing). In that first class, before any readings had been assigned, Bork posed a hypothetical and asked the group  of 20 what we would cite in deciding it.  Billy was a deer in the headlights and didn't really know (actually, he never knew) why he was even in Law School, but relying on his Princeton precept experience, he raised his hand and volunteered.  He mumbled something about "fairness and public policy."  Bork pounded his fist on the table, pointed his finger at Billy, and snarled: "Just because you go to Yale Law School does not let you use words like 'fairness' and 'public policy" in MY classroom."  I think that was the last time Billy volunteered in Bork's class all semester.

 

My wife Vicky Cass and I met while I was in Law School, and she was in graduate school.  Vicky was as close to Billy as I was and loved him just as much.  He was a groomsman in our wedding and wrote us a wonderful poem.  Vicky became a professor of Chinese literature and Billy taught himself some Chinese so he could use it in talking to her. 

 

After law school, Billy and our good mutual friend and classmate Bill Elliot travelled and lived in Europe for several years.  I always thought Billy just wanted to get as far away from law practice as he could. But in the mid-70s he ended up back in San Francisco, where I was working for a law firm.  We hired Billy as a lawyer and I had the great pleasure of working with him on what was known as the BART litigation.  We represented BART suing the companies that built it.  President Nixon came out for the opening and the first train ran off the end of the tracks at the Fremont station.   Billy was smart as a whip and had a wonderful sense of humor.  He also played for the Firm's softball team and we played volleyball together at the local YMCA.  He was injured playing softball and tested the worker's compensation system by filing a claim to cover his injury on the grounds that it was work related.

 

In about 1979  my family moved to MInneapolis for a time.  We rented out our house in  the Upper Haight part of SF (or Lower Twin Peaks if you are a real estate agent). The City was trying to gentrify the area and found numerous code violations.  We "hired" Billy as our lawyer to deal with the City.  He got the whole code proceeding thrown out and never charged us a dime.  He also represented a family member in a probate proceeding and never charged him or us for that matter either.  He may not have liked being a lawyer, but he was a damn good one, at least for real peoples' problems.

 

Later in the 1990s Billy introduced me to the President of MIlls College (to whom he was married for a time) and recommended me for their Board of Trustees.  He quit his lawyer job and lived on campus, writing poetry and short stories and learning to play the violin.  Vicky and I saw him on a regular basis.  He enriched our lives in every way.  At one point he flew to Colorado, where we were living at the time, so that we could climb a 13,000 foot peak together.  It was October, there was snow on the ground, and the wind was howling, but he entertained me throughout the strenuous climb.  I don't think I ever had as much fun.

 

Later Billy married  Nora Silver, a professor and leadership consultant at the University of California, Berkeley Haas School and they lived in Albany in the East Bay.  He had completed stints as a lawyer for the California State Bar and the University of California,  As a result of my move to the East Coast,  we saw less of Billy but know that his time was consumed with life with Nora and  grandchildren of whom he was enormously proud.  He was always a kid at heart. He was also pulling together his poems and short stories for a book.

 

I had a very nice visit with Billy in Oakland on June 30 earlier this summer and we exchanged messages after I left. He had just had a long conversation with our great classmate and mutual friend Tom Allison which meant the world to him.     I reported on the success of our 60th reunion and we chatted about old friends and good times.   He had various ailments and was living in a facility, but he mostly wanted to talk about me and my family.  He was mentally completely sharp and seemed to greatly enjoy our conversation.  I was looking forward to seeing him again soon.  I am stunned and saddened by his death but incredibly thankful for a lifetime of friendship and the opportunity to see him just a month ago.

 

Billy - May our memories of you and our time together be a blessing.

 

Paul Birkeland:

Friends would visit Bill and Elliot in Uriage, myself included. Bill became sufficiently fluent in French that he could sit and philosophize with some French guys in the town café. (They knew he was a lawyer and were puzzled as to why he was hanging out in Uriage.) Bill fell in love with a Danish woman and moved to Denmark for some time before returning to France.

After returning to San Francisco, Bill did in fact practice law. He was a partner in a business law firm, as well as worked as a contract specialist with the University of California System. He retired the day after he became eligible for a pension.

Bill was a man of intense passions. He was a gifted writer, he learned to play the violin, he played a mean game of pinball, and he loved to travel with his wife Nora, especially to Italy. In addition, he was besotted with his grandson, Teo.

(L-R) Brauer, Reichel (on phone), Holman, Adams at a SF Lunch Meeting (January, 2025)

If you have photos, information, or memories that you wish to share, please send them to the '66 Memorial Team (66_MemorialTeam@googlegroups.com). We will add them to this page.