Former Yuman who survived 1906 San Francisco quake dies

Violet Marie (Wilson) Lyman was 3 when she was shaken by the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906.

One hundred years later, Lyman, at the time a Yuma resident, was one of eight survivors of the earthquake who were honored in a centennial celebration of the event in San Francisco.

Lyman, who lived in Yuma until April of this year, died in Folsom, Calif., on Dec. 4. She was 104.

At the 100-year anniversary of the event, Lyman was the subject of considerable fanfare. As an earthquake survivor, she tossed out the first pitch at the San Francisco Giants' Opening Day baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, and she was a guest on NBC's "Dateline."

"Mother didn't like being in the limelight, though," said her son, Richard Lyman of Yuma. "She preferred to watch, and she did that very well. She took in everything that was going on."

She was born July 30, 1903, in Vallejo, Calif., to Marie and Fredrick Wilson and married Francis Lyman on July 24, 1924. From the marriage of 65 years, the couple had two children.

"Mother and my dad had lived in the same house in Vallejo for 43 years. She became a career librarian, and after dad died and she retired, she traveled extensively, to Europe, Norway and Australia," her son said.

She had lived in Yuma from 1990 to 2003 and and returned to Yuma in 2005 to live with Robert and his wife, Beulah.

"In April, we moved her to live with my sister, Betty Mak, in Medford, Ore. She didn't like the cold, so she moved to a granddaughter's home (Deborah Cain) in Folsom, Calif.

"She had always told us she didn't want to live in a tin can, meaning a trailer, nor sleep on a Murphy bed that folded into a wall," Robert said. "She had lots of memories and never complained."

There will be a memorial service for her this Saturday at the Church of Christ in Folsom.

She is survived by her son and daughter, 10 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren and 29 great-great-grandchildren.