Cathy Topham

Cathy Topham, an arts philanthropist and collector who championed emerging artists and advocated for vulnerable families, died Jan. 20 2017 at her home in San Francisco. She was 69. Mrs. Topham was born Aug. 14, 1947, at St. Mary’s Hospital in San Francisco to Elaine and George McKeon and grew up in the West Portal district. A third-generation San Franciscan, Mrs. Topham attended St. Cecilia School and Convent of the Sacred Heart, and graduated from the University of San Francisco with a bachelor’s degree in English. She met Lowell High School student Ned Topham at a dance in 1964. The former teenage sweethearts married in 1972 and moved to Los Angeles, where he worked in the film business. They returned to San Francisco in 1988, raising their sons and lending their resourceful enthusiasm to numerous cultural organizations. Following the death of her father, a prominent developer, in 1976, Mrs. Topham, along with her mother and sister Eileen McKeon Michael, formed a close-knit three-member club centered around zany pranks and exotic travels. She is preceded in death by her mother, the dynamic former SFMOMA board chair of many decades who was instrumental in the museum’s move from its cramped Civic Center location to the Mario Botta-designed building on Third Street that allowed the museum to expand its burgeoning modern art collection. Mrs. Topham is survived by her husband; sons Christian Topham and Ned Topham; two grandchildren; brother-in-law Jack Topham; and her sister and brother-in-law, Peter Michael, all of San Francisco.