Seymour Merton Rose

Seymour Merton Rose
February 12, 1928 – December 3, 2014
Danville, CA

On December 3, 2014, our father Seymour M. Rose, born in 1928, peacefully passed away after a 22-month struggle. Our sturdiest golden bear and educational giant battled till the very end and lost his courageous fight at age 86. Our beloved father is survived by his children, Carl and Alison Rose, and Heather Whittington, along with sister, Celest Ilitzky, his son-in-law, Craig White, and his sister-in-law, Rebecca Covalt. He is also survived by three grandchildren, Ari, Max, and Eli Rose-White, and five nieces and nephews. A 1950 UC-Berkley graduate and huge Cal Golden Bears fan, track & field letterman and Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity president, our father was a true leader, blessed with a Renaissance-level brilliance, a heart of gold, a relentless work ethic, and unmatchable charisma and whit. Born in Los Angeles, he became a highly regarded attorney who graduated from Boalt Hall in 1954. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1955, became a family law specialist in 1980, and was in the first group of specialists to be licensed in Family Law. Our father was a founding member of the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists and served as the second president of the association. He served on the legislative family law committee for four years and was instrumental in the drafting of new family laws. In addition, he conducted numerous seminars and workshops for the Continuing Education of the Bar and various other family law organizations, and lectured for the Family Law Council of Community Property states. He also served as judge pro tem in San Francisco, Contra Costa and Alameda County Superior Courts. In 2005, he was formally recognized for 50 years of outstanding service by both the State Bar of California and the State of California Supreme Court. Among countless other accolades, our father served on active duty during the Korean War and continued with the Army Reserve and Judge Advocate General Corps. for 27 years until he retired as a Lt. Col. He was also associate professor of rhetoric at UC-Berkley for 13 years, and acted as Northern California campaign manager for Robert F. Kennedy. He also served on the Oakland Board of Education for 18 years, where he helped facilitate desegregation of ;the Oakland Unified School District in the 1960s, and was elected its president on numerous occasions. Our father will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and the communities he tirelessly served. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Jeff Huffaker '74 Memorial Scholarship fund at the UC Davis Foundation. Contact Karen Charney at kcharney@ucdavis.edu or 530-752-6209 for more information. Memorial services will be held at Chapel of the Chimes at 4499 Piedmont Ave. in Oakland, Calif., on Jan. 10th at 1 p.m.

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