In Memoriam: Ceatrice Floriabell Polite 🕊️

March 25, 1936 – July 26, 2026

TODCO mourns the passing of Ceatrice Floriabel Polite, a fierce South of Market community leader whose advocacy helped shape our affordable housing legacy that serves over 1,500 San Franciscans annually.

Ceatrice is more than the namesake of one of our housing communities. She was among the residents and neighborhood leaders who helped establish a fundamental principle that continues to guide our work: San Francisco must be a city for all, not just the wealthy. 

That principle was neither universally accepted nor easily won.

During the decades-long struggle over the future of San Francisco's Yerba Buena and South of Market neighborhoods, Ceatrice advocated to center the needs of existing low-income residents, seniors, and working families. As a member of Tenants and Owners in Opposition to Redevelopment (TOOR), she laid the foundation and moral framework for the work we do every day.

Ceatrice believed that progress should not come at the expense of the people who built the community. Even Herb Caen, legendary columnist, paid his respects to her unwavering commitment to affordable housing in the face of wealthy resistance in his San Francisco Chronicle column (December 19th, 1988 – San Francisco Chronicle - Herb Caen Column: “That’s My All Over”).

Her efforts helped lay the groundwork for housing developments that continue to provide stability and opportunity for San Franciscans decades later. In recognition of her extraordinary contributions, TODCO named one of its affordable senior housing communities in her honor.

When Ceatrice Polite Apartments opened in 1984, it represented much more than the completion of a building. It represented a victory for community-based planning and resident-led advocacy. Developed as part of TODCO's Yerba Buena housing efforts, the project added 90 affordable apartments (44 studios & 46 one bedrooms) for seniors and demonstrated that housing could remain an integral part of neighborhood redevelopment. Newspaper coverage from the time noted the significance of the groundbreaking and Ceatrice's role in the movement that helped make the project possible.

More than four decades later, Ceatrice Polite Apartments continues to fulfill the mission that inspired its creation. The property remains an essential component of TODCO's affordable housing portfolio, providing seniors with safe, stable, and affordable homes in the heart of the city.

Ceatrice's impact was also recognized beyond the South of Market community. Over the years, her contributions came to be acknowledged as part of the broader story of San Francisco's redevelopment and affordable housing history. What had once been contentious neighborhood battles became widely recognized as important efforts to preserve community, protect residents, and secure housing for future generations.

The building that bears her name stands today as a reminder of what community leadership can accomplish. Every resident who calls Ceatrice Polite Apartments home is part of a living legacy that reflects the values she championed: dignity, stability, affordability, and belonging.

While we mourn her passing, we also celebrate a legacy that remains visible throughout South of Market.

Ceatrice Polite helped ensure that redevelopment included affordable housing. She helped elevate the voices of residents who might otherwise have been overlooked. And she helped demonstrate that lasting neighborhood investment must include a commitment to the people who live there.

For that, TODCO remains profoundly grateful.

We extend our deepest condolences to the Polite family and all who knew and loved her.

May her memory continue to inspire our work, and may her legacy live on through the communities she helped build.