Judith Hamburger Former Laguna Beach resident Judith...

Judith Hamburger

Former Laguna Beach resident Judith Hamburger died March 9 after

an 18-month battle with lung cancer. She was 52.

Mrs. Hamburger was a member of the Laguna Beach Board of

Adjustment/Design Review Board in the 1970s and later a developer of

affordable housing projects on the East Coast.

She and her husband, Henry, a professor at George Mason University

in Virginia, lived on Bluebird Canyon Drive from l970 to l979. In

addition to her five years on the Board of Adjustment, Judith had

been active in the Orange County League of Women Voters and served a

term as its planning chair.

Judith was a combination of academic and activist. Born in

Philadelphia in l940, Judith received a bachelor’s in philosophy from

Bryn Mawr College, and master’s degrees in planning from USC and in

government with a specialization in African Studies from Boston

University. The Hamburgers honeymooned for two years in Kakamega,

Kenya, where Judith taught art and English to Kenyan girls. Says

Henry: “Judith allowed the girls to laugh, somewhat to the chagrin of

the Mother Superior.”

After her stint in Laguna, Judith held several housing positions

in the Washington, D.C. area. Later, she started her own business,

Affordable Housing Consultant, developing low-cost housing projects

for formerly homeless and ill persons in Baltimore, notably in

concert with the St.Vincent de Paul Society.

Mrs. Hamburger is survived by her husband; two children, Benjamin

and Jessica; and one grandchild.

A memorial service was held Saturday at the home of Angie Bray and

Steve DeWitt in Bluebird Canyon.