Date of Birth
February 19, 1980
Date of Death
June 3, 2020
Location
Orinda, California
Who She Was
Her Story
Brigitte Donner Daws, 40, and her unborn son, passed away suddenly from a rare pregnancy complication on June 3, 2020.
Brigitte was born Feb. 19, 1980 in suburban Washington D.C., the first child of Heidi Ehrman Donner, and Alvan Joseph Donner. In 1983, the family relocated to Orinda California where she was raised and graduated from Miramonte High School.
She went on to study English at the University of California at Berkeley, where she was a varsity athlete on the Cal Water Polo team as well as president of Pi Beta Phi sorority. Perhaps most importantly, Cal was also where Brigitte met the love of her life, Philip Daws.
After Cal, and a stint in Washington, D.C. working as a legislative aide, Brigitte got her MBA at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, where, unsurprisingly, she served as class president.
Brigitte came home to San Francisco and built an impressive career ultimately becoming a Vice President at Salesforce and chairing Dreamforce, the world’s largest tech conference.
In 2015, Brigitte literally bumped into Philip on Chestnut St. near both their apartments. It was love again at second sight! They were married in 2018 and soon moved to Tiburon. She passed away 6 days prior to their 2nd anniversary. Their first child, a son, was due June 17.
Brigitte was a magnetic and strong woman. She operated in a gear rarely seen and why she achieved great success in everything she did and did so with a giant smile all the time. Her infectious enthusiasm together with her universal kindness created friendships that were all deep, strong and fiercely loyal. Every day with Brigitte was a party and a great adventure.
While she took great pride in her work, she was most passionate about her family and her friends. She had a way to make everyone a better version of themselves. Every moment with Brigitte was the best part of anyone’s day.
Brigitte will be lovingly remembered and dearly missed by her husband Philip, his siblings Bradley, Patrick, and Megan, his parents Virginia Daws and John Daws, her parents Heidi and Alvan Donner, her brother Alan and his fiancée Molly.