Guyla Ponomareff

May 17, 1932 - March 27, 2021

Guyla Woodward Ponomareff died Saturday, March 27, 2021, of heart failure. She was 88. Guyla was a passionate attorney who worked tirelessly for the rights of women during a career that spanned more than five decades. She was an early member of the National Women’s Political Caucus and active in local, state, and national politics. As a practicing attorney in the San Francisco Bay Area, she specialized in Family Law and Probate. Her pro bono work included defending LGBTQ women and women of color. Born in Charleroi, Penn, in 1932, she graduated from Penn State, and later was among the first women admitted to the University of Pennsylvania law school. She met Dr. George Ponomareff while she was working as an attorney for the Department of Labor in Washington, DC. They married in 1959 and moved to Hawaii, then Texas, and finally settled in California. Guyla became a Buddhist in 2004. After George died in 2014, Guyla retired from her law practice in Walnut Creek, California. During the next six years, she split her time between living in Ashland, Ore. and California, becoming a permanent resident of Oregon in 2020. She is survived by her children: Eleanor Ponomareff of Talent, Lisa Ponomareff of Moraga, Calif., and Greg Ponomareff and daughter-in-law Ingrid Bello of Lafayette, Calif., and four grandchildren. At Guyla’s request, no service will be held. The family requests no flowers. Donations in her name may be made to the American Civil Liberties Union, Southern Poverty Law Center, or Buddha Gate Monastery in Lafayette, Calif.