Hazel Naomi Fermon

1931-2023

Hazel Naomi “Ni-Ni” Fermon was born in Rock Springs, Wyoming, on October 1, 1931, during the height of the Great Depression. She was the last of 13 children – nine of whom survived -- born to Benjamin Franklin Fermon and Jessie Amy Anderson Fermon.

On November 20, 2023, following a full life of career and personal accomplishments, Hazel died at age 92 in Woodland, California.

Along with Hazel’s significant professional and community contributions over more than six decades in Northern California, her life journey is also a notable variation of the larger great Black Migration story -- the historic era in which millions of African-Americans, fleeing Jim Crow segregation and discrimination, relocated to Northeastern, Western or Midwestern U.S. regions between the 1930s-1960s.

Her father, Ben, was a pillar of the community in Rock Springs, where he served in a variety of roles at the Union Pacific Railroad and Mining Company, spanning a total of more than thirty years in several cities across the Mountain West. Hazel’s mother, Jessie, was a homemaker who hailed from Iowa.

Not long after Benjamin Fermon’s death in 1942, as World War II created new work opportunities in many Western American regions, Hazel accompanied her mother and several older siblings first to Detroit, then to Northern California, settling in Oakland, California. Hazel graduated from Albany High School in Alameda County, in 1949. She later moved to San Francisco and attended San Francisco City College, followed by San Francisco State University. She also worked part-time in canneries while attending college. In 1953, Hazel gave birth to a son, Carl Burton, and continued pursuing post-secondary education.

Joining a Workforce that Fueled San Francisco’s Post WWII Economic Boom

In the early 1960s, as San Francisco and the greater-Bay Area boomed with post-World War II industrial activity, Hazel joined the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (now the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), as a full-time claims specialist in the Social Security Administration (SSA). Hazel began her work with the SSA in their downtown San Francisco office; the operation later relocated to the Northern California Regional Office in Richmond CA.

Over the next few decades, Hazel ascended the civil service ranks at SSA, ultimately obtaining subject-matter expertise in claims examination and authorization. During many years at SSA, Hazel worked diligently, including countless hours of overtime, frequently encompassing Saturdays. She retired from SSA in 1985.

Between 1960 and 1963, Hazel welcomed three additional children – Eric, Gladys, and Amy.

In 1971, Hazel relocated from San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood to Merced Heights, purchasing a single-family home near San Francisco State University. During the ensuing thirty years, Hazel stood out as a dedicated contributor to civic affairs in the Merced Heights community, including as a devoted member of Temple United Methodist Church, and at her children’s respective public schools. An enthusiastic proponent of community engagement, Hazel also participated in a bowling league alongside SSA colleagues, frequently volunteered at polling locations during election cycles, and attended political candidate forums.

An Enthusiastic Member of Civic and Cultural Communities

Her dedication to public service included staunch support of public education, expressed via regular participation in Parent-Teacher Association endeavors in the greater Oceanview-Merced-Ingleside (OMI) neighborhood.

Hazel’s formidable intellect and focus on interests were demonstrated across several cultural institutions in San Francisco, including her unshakeable loyalty to San Francisco’s major league sports teams, including the Giants baseball team, the 49ers football team, and the Golden State Warriors basketball team; she also frequently attended performances of the San Francisco Opera, and was for many years a season ticket holder at Davies Symphony Hall.

In 1979, Hazel’s eldest son, Carl, committed suicide following a battle with mental illness.

In the late 1980s, after Hazel retired from SSA, she turned her energies to volunteering at after-school programs at Temple United Methodist Church and at Pilgrim’s Rest Church in the OMI, and at local polling places. Hazel also engaged in part-time work at Commodore Sloat Elementary, a nearby public school attended by one of Hazel’s granddaughters, Chante Simmons.

Hazel relocated to a senior assisted living residency in the mid 2010’s near Lake Merced in San Francisco; she later relocated to greater Sacramento and lived at a senior assisted residency.

On October 1st, 2023, Hazel entertained her 92nd birthday amidst many family members and their friends: It was a fitting celebration of a brilliant, dedicated, kind and distinguished woman.

A force of nature, Hazel N. Fermon is survived by her children, Eric M. Fermon of Sacramento, Gladys M. Fermon of New South Wales, Australia, Amy L. Alexander of Sacramento, eight grandchildren, and more than a dozen nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and nephews in California, Utah, and other American cities.

A memorial service will be announced in Spring of 2024.

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