Berkeleyside33%
Remembering Paloma Foster 67%
By Marlo De La Mora87%
7/13/2026, 3:00:00 AM
Keywords: Uc Berkeley, Obituaries
BS Summary: This article contains 30 faulty reasoning types, including Hasty Generalization, Appeal to Emotion, and Biased Writer Voice, with Halo Effect as the most egregious example at 52% saturation with 565 hits. Analysis detected 2,895 faulty-reasoning hits from 1,087 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 60.2% and a BS Rank of 67% (7,417 of 21,887 articles). This article is worse (more manipulative) than 66.10% of the article peer group.
Paloma Foster.
Courtesy of her friends and family
It is with profound sadness and broken hearts that we announce the passing of Paloma Fabiana Guadalupe Foster — a mother of two and UC Berkeley student studying public policy with the intention to spend her life advocating for marginalized communities.
She died on June 21, 2026, at the age of 35, after a car crash on Interstate 580 near San Quentin .
Her boyfriend, Shiloh, and 7-year-old son, Cairo, survived the crash.
Her other son, Micah, AGE, was not in the vehicle.
READ MORE ABOUT PALOMA FOSTER
UC Berkeley community honors student, mother killed in solo crash ( KTVU )
‘A beautiful spirit’: Remembering student-parent Paloma Foster ( Daily Cal )
UC Berkeley scholar who overcame incarceration and foster care dies in crash ( SF Chronicle )
Paloma was a devoted mother, beloved daughter, cherished partner, loyal friend, passionate advocate, and an inspiration to everyone fortunate enough to know her.
She lived with extraordinary resilience, unwavering compassion, and a heart that never stopped believing in the power of love, service, and second chances.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Paloma was a proud first-generation Mexican American whose life embodied perseverance and hope.
After overcoming tremendous adversity, including experiences in foster care, incarceration, and emancipating from the foster care system on her 18th birthday, she transformed her personal hardships into a lifelong mission to create opportunities for others.
Rather than allowing her past to define her, she used it as the foundation for helping build a more just and compassionate future.
As a transfer student at UC Berkeley, Paloma quickly became a leader on campus.
A proud Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholar, she majored in political science while pursuing minors in public policy and race and the law.
She dreamed of earning both a J.D. and a master’s degree in public policy so she could reform the criminal justice system and improve policies affecting foster youth and formerly incarcerated individuals.
She also hoped to one day become a foster parent herself, giving children the love and stability she had longed for growing up.
Above all, she dreamed of building a life that would make her sons proud of their mother.
Paloma and her friend Marlo De La Mora on the UC Berkeley campus with Einstein.
Courtesy of her friends and family
Paloma’s passion for public service extended far beyond the classroom.
She served as a Golden Bear Orientation Leader, Chair of the ASUC Equity and Systems Impact Commission, Policy Fellow with Berkeley Underground Scholars, and an adviser on the California Policy Lab’s Criminal Legal Research Advisory Board.
Through each of these roles, she advocated for equity, justice, and opportunity for underserved communities.
She believed deeply that lived experience belonged at every decision-making table and worked tirelessly to ensure that voices like hers were heard.
Berfore transferring to UC Berkeley, she served as a student trustee at Fullerton College in Southern California and was named one of the community college’s 2023 students of the year .
While her accomplishments were extraordinary, those who knew Paloma will remember her most for the person she was.
She had a remarkable gift for making strangers feel like lifelong friends.
Her warmth, infectious laugh and genuine kindness made everyone around her feel welcomed, valued and loved.
She led with empathy, welcomed others without judgment, and found joy in lifting people up.
Her generosity knew no limits.
Whether she was feeding people experiencing homelessness, encouraging fellow students, mentoring friends, or sending a Cal Bear to the daughter of a single father raising a child with disabilities simply because she wanted to brighten a little girl’s day, Paloma gave without expecting anything in return.
Loving others came naturally to her.
Paloma and her son Cairo .
Courtesy of her friends and family
Above all else, Paloma was a loving mother.
Her sons were always in her heart and remained the greatest source of love, hope, and purpose in her life.
Paloma spoke often about her children and dreamed of building a future that would make them proud.
Everything she worked toward, her education, her advocacy, and her vision for changing the foster care and criminal justice systems, was rooted in creating a better world for them and for families like hers.
Paloma and Shiloh at Hearst Castle.
Courtesy of her friends and family
Paloma found great happiness in the love she shared with her partner, Shiloh, whom she affectionately described as “a gem of a human being.”
She often told friends she had found her person, and those closest to her witnessed the joy, peace, and unconditional love that the relationship brought into her life.
To her friends, Paloma was family.
She was the person who showed up and always believed in you, even when you doubted yourself.
She celebrated the successes of others as enthusiastically as her own and reminded those around her that they were never alone.
Her compassion, generosity, and ability to make people feel seen left an unforgettable mark on everyone fortunate enough to know her.
Although her life was far too short, Paloma’s impact was immeasurable.
She leaves behind a legacy of courage, advocacy, generosity, resilience, and unconditional love that will continue to inspire everyone whose lives she touched.
Paloma is survived by her beloved sons, Micah and Cairo; her loving partner, Shiloh; her family; her best friends and chosen family, Marlo De La Mora and Karen Sanchez; and countless friends, classmates, mentors, colleagues, and community members whose lives were forever changed by knowing her.
Paloma at the Department of Justice.
Courtesy of her friends and family
Though our hearts ache in her absence, we find comfort in knowing that her light continues to shine through the countless lives she changed.
Her example reminds us that no matter where our journey begins, we each have the power to change the world through compassion, perseverance, and love.
Whether she was advocating for justice, encouraging a fellow student, helping a stranger, or simply making someone feel seen, Paloma led with love.
That is how she will be remembered.
Paloma’s beautiful spirit will never be forgotten.
Her legacy lives on in every life she touched, every person she encouraged, and every act of kindness inspired by her memory.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help cover her funeral expenses.
“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou
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