Eda Rae Kauffman

Eda Kauffman of Philadelphia, PA, died on December 29, 2025, at age 62 after two-and-a-half years with pancreatic cancer.

Eda was born in Goshen, Indiana, and raised in Washington, DC, where her parents moved when she was 3 years old. She received her B.A. from Earlham College, her MSW from the University of Pennsylvania, and pursued her Ph.D. in Social Work at Bryn Mawr College, foregoing her dissertation to focus on agency work. She worked at many different agencies from The Bridge, early in her career, to Interim House, Congreso de Latino Unidos, and Women Against Abuse where she served as clinical director. She then spent ten years at the University of Pennsylvania’s field placement office at the School of Social Policy and Practice, eventually serving as its director. She left that position to build the business she had been creating leading trauma-informed trainings for agencies as well as building up her therapy practice. A few months later, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which of necessity became her focus.

Eda brought her warmth, compassion, insight, and humor to every place she worked and every relationship she had. She had an uncanny ability to speak helpful and sometimes hard truths that could sharply focus them and make them less overwhelming. Constantly growing and often her harshest critic, her experience with cancer helped her begin to see all that she meant to so many of us. The grace, courage, and honesty with which she moved through the final chapter of her life offered a powerful lesson in how to live with intention, even in the face of uncertainty.

Eda is survived by her mother, Lois; her brother, Conrad (Jayne); her husband, Jim; and her daughters, Grace, Mira, and Ruby. She is also survived by her nieces and nephew, Jessica, Caitlin, and Sam. She is missed, appreciated, and loved by so many others who have been such vast supports to her and her family.

A memorial service and reception to follow for Eda will be held on February 21, 2026, at 11 AM at Germantown Monthly Meeting, 47 W. Coulter St., Philadelphia, 19144. Please check her Caring Bridge account for more details in the near future. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to https://www.womenagainstabuse.org/donate.