A university professor, the best-selling author of 21 books on everything from management textbooks to humorous verse, a syndicated columnist, international keynote speaker, and notable feminist, Natasha Josefowitz, ACSW, Ph.D., 96, died on March 15.

She was a longtime resident of White Sands Retirement Center in La Jolla and had been a columnist for La Jolla Village News.

“Sadly, my mother died peacefully at home,” said her surviving daughter, Nina Josefowitz. “We will all miss her very much. I know you will also miss her wit and wisdom.”

Nina said her mother, in the few days before her death, dictated a message to her readers from her hospital bed. It reads: “This is the last column I will be writing. I have been writing to you for 40 years. You may not know it, but I will be 97 and I think my time has come to put down my pen. Thank you for all your comments and letters. One of the highlights of my life has been writing this column and hearing from all of you.”

Kati Mikes-Papp, Josefowitz’s office assistant who said Natasha used to refer to her as her “office daughter,” said Josefowitz had “a sense of royalty about her” right down to the elaborate earrings she wore that were “renowned for perfectly matching her outfits.”

Of Natasha’s character, Kati said: “She made everyone feel like they were heard and validated, and she inspired them to keep going. The life story of Natasha Josefowitz is a story of words. The words she spoke and wrote guided and inspired people around the world for over 50 years. In her books, her speeches, and her hundreds of articles, Natasha dispensed knowledge, wisdom, advice, insight, inspiration, and humor.”

Dave Schwab, a San Diego Community Newspaper Group reporter who was a longtime friend of Josefowitz, noted Natasha always referred to herself as his “Jewish mother.”

“Besides her overwhelming intelligence, there was an overpowering warmth that always shone through,” said Schwab, who shared lunches with her at White Sands. “She always treated me as family. I found that to be a rare and endearing quality. It is something I will always miss, along with her incisive wit and disarming charm.”

Born on Halloween, Natasha would say that made her “a certified witch.” Natasha called herself a “late bloomer,” having earned her master’s degree in social work at age 40 and her Ph.D. in social psychology at 50.

“She taught the first class in the country for ‘Women in Business’ at the University of New Hampshire, followed by San Diego State University,” Kati said adding Natasha’s mission in life was “to be an empowerer and trailblazer. Her ground-breaking work began opening doors for other women entering the workforce. Her entire career focused on empowering women through her writing, teaching, and public lectures on women’s issues.”

Over the years, Natasha received numerous accolades. Amongst her most memorable were becoming one of the first women to join the San Diego Rotary Club, receiving the “Living Legacy Award” from the Women’s International Center, and being inducted into the San Diego Women’s Hall of Fame in 2015. San Diego Business Journal named her one of San Diego’s “Top Guns.”

In her later years, Natasha turned her focus to empowering seniors to live full and purposeful lives. Her wish was to help women and men celebrate their increasing number of years and find meaning in their lives while having fun addressing the pleasures and pitfalls of aging.

“Natasha was always ready for her next new adventure, acknowledging the necessity for risk-taking,” said Kati. “Her secret to being a successful ager was to be active, involved in a community, and daring to be innovative. Her advice to others was: ‘Live your life so that by the time you are my age you would have done everything, been everywhere, said everything, with no regrets and no remorse.’”

“Natasha told it like it was. She never minced words. I was scolded a few times when the La Jolla Village News was late arriving at White Sands or there weren’t enough to go around. I loved her direct, honest approach,” said Julie Main, publisher of San Diego Community Newspaper Group. “She was genuinely interested in people and their lives. She listened and you felt the connection. A mentor to many, she was a dear friend to me and she will be missed by many.”

Natasha’s hobbies included writing poetry, reading medical journals, doing needlepoint, and emailing jokes to family and receptive friends. Whenever she was asked how she was, Natasha would always reply, “Amazing,” said Kati who shared that Natasha “was an indomitable powerhouse with all her energy, compassion, intelligence, incredible wit, and insatiable curiosity. She embraced and celebrated life. She remained a force to be reckoned with to the very end. This exceptional woman, legendary pioneer, and remarkable role model will be sorely missed.”

Natasha Josefowitz (1926–2023) was the wife of the late Herman Gadon, Ph.D., mother of Nina and the late Paul Josefowitz; grandmother of Laura Stahl, Aaron and Daniel Myran, and Nicholas Josefowitz; great-grandmother of Cole and Quinn Stahl, Oliver and Max Myran, Alec and Ben Josefowitz; and sister of the late Alec Chapro.

Born in Paris, France, she came to the United States to escape the Nazis in 1939. She was a bestselling author of 21 books, including critically acclaimed management textbooks and award-winning books of humorous verse. Her book “Paths to Power: a woman’s guide from first job to top executive,” became a classic. She was an international keynote speaker, syndicated columnist, and frequent guest on local and national talk shows.

Later in life, Natasha was widely recognized for her pioneering work on growing older and for authoring best-selling books such as “Too Wise to Want To Be Young Again” and “Been There, Done That, Doing It Better!”

The Washington Post noted: “Natasha Josefowitz is helping her generation, and those that follow, find their way into a successful, meaningful and fun older age… her optimism about aging is inspiring.”

Donations in memory of Natasha Josefowitz can be made to: Natasha’s Scholars Fund, White Sands La Jolla, 7450 Olivetas Ave., La Jolla, CA 92037.

May her memory be a blessing.