Obituary published on Legacy.com by Shalom Memorial Funeral Home – Arlington Heights on Nov. 12, 2023.

Gary Apfelbaum, 66, of Grayslake, formerly of Antioch, passed away Friday, November 10, 2023 at Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital.
Visitation will be at 1:45 p.m. Friday, November 17, 2023, with a chapel service following at 2:30 p.m., at Shalom Memorial Park, 1700 W. Rand Road, Arlington Heights. Rabbi Taron Tachman will officiate. Burial to follow at Randhill Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network.
Gary was born March 7, 1957, the second-eldest son of Jerry and Ruth (Schwartz) Apfelbaum. He was raised in Northbrook and Arlington Heights and graduated from Wheeling High School in 1975. Gary spent most of his career in the heating and air conditioning industry, including seven years as a sales and service engineer at Oelerich HVAC in Mundelein and nearly 17 years as a HVAC technician at Ravinia Heating and Plumbing in Lincolnshire, where he retired in 2018. In 2010, he patented a device to help remove ice and snow from outside furnace venting. He was a member of Chicago Pipefitters Local 597.
Survivors include his longtime partner, Estelle Foreman; three brothers, Steve (Susan) of Juda, WI.; Ron (Kathy) of Lake Villa, IL. and Larry (Karen) of Bloomington, IL.; two nieces April and Amy Apfelbaum; two nephews, Aaron Apfelbaum and Noah (Denise Lane) Klinge; one uncle, Morrie (Fran) Schwartz; cousins Keith (Cheryl) Weitzman; Mark (Judy) Weitzman; Eileen Weitzman; Gary (Becky Willis) Schwartz and Linda (Alvin) Dodek, and his beloved dog, Sammy.
Gary was also survived by his best friend ‘Big Bob’ Knesley; longtime friend Dave Ariano and Gary’s co-workers at Ravinia; friends and neighbors at Saddlebrook Farms; longtime family friend Ron Boardwine and longtime friend Gloria Stevens.
He was preceded in death by his parents; one aunt, Estelle Weitzman; and one uncle, Leonard Weitzman.
Gary loved mechanical things, including repairing engines, golf carts, cars and trucks, and liked ‘curb shopping’ for treasures. He and his brother Ron owned rental homes in the Antioch area. He and Estelle enjoyed traveling, taking a road trip to North Carolina in 2019 and a train trip from Chicago to Seattle to San Francisco in 2022. Gary loved to call family members first thing in the morning and sing “Happy Birthday” on their special day.
Gary faced many health challenges during his life. He received a donated kidney from Gift of Hope in 2010 and was placed on the heart transplant list prior to his death. But Gary never let health issues define who he was and instead lived life with a positive attitude. He was kind, generous and loyal, always interested in your life, and someone who always had your back.
The family wishes to thank the doctors and nurses at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital, Rush University Medical Center and Cleveland Clinic for the treatment and care they provided.
Gary is forever loved and missed by many.

The post Gary Apfelbaum Obituary – Shalom Memorial Funeral Residence – Arlington Heights appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

The body of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein arrives at City Hall Wednesday, Oct. 4, 2023, in San Francisco. Feinstein’s casket was then displayed at City Hall. Feinstein, who died Sept. 29, served as San Francisco mayor. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Joe Biden praised the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Thursday as a dear friend and a woman of deep integrity who fought to protect what was important to America: freedom, civil liberties, security and the U.S. Constitution.

“She was always tough, prepared, rigorous, compassionate. She always served the people of California and our nation for the right reasons,” Biden said in recorded video remarks played at Feinstein’s memorial outside San Francisco City Hall.

Roughly 1,500 invited guests were at the private service, where two large screens showed photos of Feinstein over the years. Guests seated in white chairs sweltered on an unseasonably hot day as the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight team soared overhead, occasionally interrupting speakers with the roar of their jets.

The flight demonstration squadron is in the city as part of Fleet Week, an annual San Francisco celebration started by Feinstein in 1981 when she was mayor.

Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer were scheduled to deliver remarks, along with Feinstein’s granddaughter, Eileen Mariano, who will speak for family.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor, and former Gov. Jerry Brown were in the audience.

The service marks the end of two days of events in the city that launched Feinstein’s political career.

On Wednesday, hundreds of mourners streamed into City Hall to pay their respects, honoring Feinstein as fearless, smart and the glue who kept the city together after two shocking political assassinations.

Many said they had never met her but wanted to honor an indefatigable public servant who fought to level the playing field for women, members of the LGBTQ+ community and racial minorities.

Feinstein died early Friday at her home in Washington, D.C., of natural causes, said Adam Russell, a spokesperson for her office. She was 90.

Feinstein was one of California’s first two women U.S. senators, a job she first won alongside Barbara Boxer in 1992, dubbed the ” Year of the Woman.”

Feinstein spent much of her career in the U.S. Senate but will be known as the forever mayor of San Francisco, a role she inherited in tragedy. She was president of the Board of Supervisors in November 1978 when a former supervisor assassinated Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the city’s first openly gay supervisor, at City Hall.

Feinstein, who found Milk’s body, became acting mayor and won election twice to serve as mayor until 1988.

Georgia Otterson, 76, a health care administrator, said Feinstein wasn’t as politically liberal as she would have liked, but the late mayor earned her respect with how she kept the heartbroken city together.

“We were all mourning together, holding candles. If memory serves me, Joan Baez sang,” Otterson said of an impromptu march that night from the historically gay Castro District to City Hall. “And she held us up.”

As a centrist Democrat, Feinstein was criticized by people on the left, including for her support for the death penalty, and in her later years, for working with Republicans. But the straight, white woman largely earned the gratitude of a city that celebrates its racial and sexual diversity.

She steered San Francisco through the HIV and AIDS crisis, bringing attention to an epidemic ignored by President Ronald Reagan. She also secured federal and private funding to save the city’s iconic cable cars from death by deterioration.

Feinstein led the city as it played host to the Democratic National Convention in 1984. Another San Francisco tradition — “Fleet Week” — was started by Feinstein in 1981, and this year’s annual celebration of air shows, naval ships and military bands is dedicated to her.

While Feinstein’s career sent her to Washington, she remained deeply involved in the affairs of San Francisco, the city where she was born and raised. She often called her successors — including Newsom — to complain about potholes or trash and to offer advice and encouragement.

Breed recalled looking up to Feinstein when she was a Black kid growing up in public housing and playing the French horn in a middle school band that performed regularly at mayoral events.

“She was so proud of us and she said so, and she took the time to talk to us, express how amazing we were and to remind us that we were her band,” Breed said at a news conference the day after Feinstein’s death.

Mourners Wednesday expressed their pride in Feinstein.

“She kept moving on up. I was proud of her, very proud of her,” said Dorothy Hudson, 81, a retired federal government employee. “She was very kind, very smart. She opened doors up to let people know, ‘You can do it.’”

San Francisco native Cari Donovan placed a bouquet of red and pink lilies and daisies on the floor before the casket. She lingered, crying quietly over a woman she never knew but who was so important to her life.

“She championed and fought for the rights of so many people,” Donovan said. “I’m so grateful. And I really just wanted her family to know how much she meant to me.”

The social worker said she talked to her 28-year-old daughter about the battles Feinstein fought so that younger generations of women could dream bigger. “She was a lioness.”

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The post Biden praises Dianne Feinstein as defender of American values at San Francisco memorial | Information, Sports activities, Jobs appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

JANIE HAR
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO — President Biden praised the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Thursday as a dear friend and a woman of deep integrity who fought to protect what was important to America: freedom, civil liberties, security and the U.S. Constitution.

“She was always tough, prepared, rigorous, compassionate. She always served the people of California and our nation for the right reasons,” Biden said in recorded video remarks played at Feinstein’s memorial outside San Francisco City Hall.

Roughly 1,500 invited guests were at the private service, where two large screens showed photos of Feinstein over the years. Guests seated in white chairs sweltered on an unseasonably hot day as the U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight team soared overhead, occasionally interrupting speakers with the roar of their jets.

The flight demonstration squadron is in the city as part of Fleet Week, an annual San Francisco celebration started by Feinstein in 1981 when she was mayor.

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Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer were scheduled to deliver remarks, along with Feinstein’s granddaughter, Eileen Mariano, who will speak for family.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a former San Francisco mayor, and former Gov. Jerry Brown were in the audience.

The service marks the end of two days of events in the city that launched Feinstein’s political career.

On Wednesday, hundreds of mourners streamed into City Hall to pay their respects, honoring Feinstein as fearless, smart and the glue who kept the city together after two shocking political assassinations.

Many said they had never met her but wanted to honor an indefatigable public servant who fought to level the playing field for women, members of the LGBTQ community and racial minorities.

Feinstein died early Friday at her home in Washington, D.C., of natural causes, said Adam Russell, a spokesperson for her office. She was 90.

Feinstein was one of California’s first two women U.S. senators, a job she first won alongside Barbara Boxer in 1992, dubbed the “ Year of the Woman.”

Feinstein spent much of her career in the U.S. Senate but will be known as the forever mayor of San Francisco, a role she inherited in tragedy. She was president of the Board of Supervisors in November 1978 when former supervisor Dan White assassinated Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the city’s first openly gay supervisor, at City Hall.

Feinstein, who found Milk’s body, became acting mayor and won election twice to serve as mayor until 1988.

Georgia Otterson, 76, a health care administrator, said Feinstein wasn’t as politically liberal as she would have liked, but the late mayor earned her respect with how she kept the heartbroken city together.

“We were all mourning together, holding candles. If memory serves me, Joan Baez sang,” Otterson said of an impromptu march that night from the historically gay Castro District to City Hall. “And she held us up.”

As a centrist Democrat, Feinstein was criticized by people on the left, including for her support for the death penalty, and in her later years, for working with Republicans. But the straight, white woman largely earned the gratitude of a city that celebrates its racial and sexual diversity.

She steered San Francisco through the HIV and AIDS crisis, bringing attention to an epidemic ignored by President Ronald Reagan. She also secured federal and private funding to save the city’s iconic cable cars from death by deterioration.

Feinstein led the city as it played host to the Democratic National Convention in 1984. Another San Francisco tradition — “Fleet Week” — was started by Feinstein in 1981, and this year’s annual celebration of air shows, naval ships and military bands is dedicated to her.

While Feinstein’s career sent her to Washington, she remained deeply involved in the affairs of San Francisco, the city where she was born and raised. She often called her successors — including Newsom — to complain about potholes or trash and to offer advice and encouragement.

Breed recalled looking up to Feinstein when she was a Black kid growing up in public housing and playing the French horn in a middle school band that performed regularly at mayoral events.

“She was so proud of us and she said so, and she took the time to talk to us, express how amazing we were and to remind us that we were her band,” Breed said at a news conference the day after Feinstein’s death.

Mourners Wednesday expressed their pride in Feinstein.

“She kept moving on up. I was proud of her, very proud of her,” said Dorothy Hudson, 81, a retired federal government employee. “She was very kind, very smart. She opened doors up to let people know, ‘You can do it.’”

San Francisco native Cari Donovan placed a bouquet of red and pink lilies and daisies on the floor before the casket. She lingered, crying quietly over a woman she never knew but who was so important to her life.

“She championed and fought for the rights of so many people,” Donovan said. “I’m so grateful. And I really just wanted her family to know how much she meant to me.”

The social worker said she talked to her 28-year-old daughter about the battles Feinstein fought so that younger generations of women could dream bigger. “She was a lioness.”

AP researcher Randy Herschaft in New York and writer Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Photos: Sen. Dianne Feinstein through the years

Supervisor Dianne Feinstein holds a news conference at her San Francisco home, Sept. 17, 1971 to announce she is a candidate for mayor of San Francisco. Asked how she rated her chances against incumbent Joseph L. Alioto, she replied with one word: “Good.” She told the news conference that leadership will be the campaign’s key issue. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Richard Drew

Dianne Feinstein, 38-year-old President of the City-County Board of Supervisors and candidate for mayor of San Francisco, prepares to cast her ballot in San Francisco on Nov. 2, 1971. The city’s registrar of voters has predicted a 75 percent turnout for the election in which Mayor Joseph L. Alioto seeks another term in office. (AP Photo/Sal Veder)

Sal Veder

Acting Mayor Dianne Feinstein with Police Chief Charles Gain at left, addresses the more than 25,000 people jammed around San Francisco’s City Hall, Nov. 28, 1978 as city residents staged a spontaneous memorial service for slain officials Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. Man at right is not identified. (AP Photo)

Anonymous

Dianne Feinstein elected to finish out the term of the late San Francisco Mayor George R. Moscone, addresses the Board of Supervisors following her election in San Francisco Monday, Dec. 5, 1978. (AP Photo/Sal Veder)

Sal Veder

Mayor of San Francisco Dianne Feinstein is shown in her office, Dec. 11, 1978. (AP Photo)

STF

Mayor of San Francisco Dianne Feinstein speaks in Washington, D.C., March 13, 1979. (AP Photo/John Duricka)

John Duricka

Rep. Abner J. Mikva (D-Ill.), and San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein hold a Capitol Hill news conference in Washington, Jan. 25, 1979 to promote presidential and congressional action for strong handgun control. (AP Photo/John Duricka)

John Duricka

San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein carries a candle as she lead an estimated 15,000 marchers also carrying candles during a march in memory of slain Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk in San Francisco, Nov. 28, 1979. In the background is a sign that says “Gay Love is Gay Power.” (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Paul Sakuma

Mayor Dianne Feinstein leaves the voting booth in San Francisco, Dec. 11, 1979, after casting her ballot in the run-off election for mayor. The mayor faces Supervisor Quentin Kopp in the runoff as she attempts to become the first woman elected to the city’s highest office. (AP Photo/Jim Palmer)

Jim Palmer

Diane Feinstein with Pope John Paul II in Vatican City, Sept. 8, 1982. (AP Photo)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang escorts San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein in the Zeguangge, Pavilion of Purple Light, where they met in Peking, Saturday, Nov. 10, 1984. (AP Photo/Neal Ulevich)

Neal Ulevich

San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, right, and Mayor Richard Berkley of Kansas City, Mo. appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee at Capitol Hill in Washington, Monday, August 16, 1982 which is holding hearings on antitrust problems which professional sports teams. (AP Photo/Scott Stewart)

Scott Stewart

Democratic Senate candidates Barbara Boxer, left, and Dianne Feinstein raise their arms in victory and wave to supporters at an election rally in San Francisco, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 1992. The two women claimed victory over their Republican male rivals, Bruce Herschensohn and Sen. John Seymour. (AP Photo/Alan Greth)

Alan Greth

Former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, left, and Rep. Barbara Boxer raise their hands in victory during an appearance at the airport in Burbank, California, Wednesday, June 3, 1992. The two women won the Democratic nominations for the two California U.S. Senate seats. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Paul Sakuma

Walter Mondale gestures to supporters as he is greeted by San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein outside her home as she arrived to attend a fund-raiser reception in San Francisco, Wednesday, Sept. 19, 1984. Mondale had been in San Francisco for an after noon rally where he picked up the endorsement of the Sierra Club. (AP Photo/Lana Harris)

Lana Harris

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., reacts after the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission announced on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, June 25, 1993, that the shipyard in Long Beach in Calif., would remain open. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., is at right. (AP Photo/Stephen R. Brown)

Stephen R. Brown

California Senator Dianne Feinstein and Roland J. Johnson, assistant director of the San Diego district for the Immigration and Naturalization Service, tour the San Ysidro Border Crossing in San Diego, Wednesday, July 7, 1993. Feinstein has proposed a $1.00 fee for crossing the border. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Lenny Ignelzi

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein gestures to friends on Thursday, Oct. 27, 1994 at the San Francisco Fire Department’s fireboat berth during a demonstration of equipment used to supply emergency drinking water to Rwandan refugee camps. Feinstein was instrumental in getting the equipment, credited with saving nearly 150,000 lives in Rwanda, shipped to the war-torn African nation. (AP Photo/Dwayne Newton)

Dwayne Newton

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., arrives at a Democratic election party in San Francisco, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

PAUL SAKUMA

Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., left, discusses re-introduction of legislation to expand a nationwide Amber Alert communication system to help find abducted children. Left to right are Feinstein, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., Sen. Orrin, R-Utah, and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Feinstein said Tuesday they would try again to create a nationwide Amber Alert network to help track down suspected child abductors.(AP Photo/Dennis Cook)

DENNIS COOK

** FILE ** In this July 17, 2008, file photo, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., left, President Bush, center, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif., speak about the California wildfires in Redding, Calif. Firefighting costs have soared since a firestorm in Southern California in 2003. Schwarzenegger cited the expense as a factor when he deferred wages for state workers and laid off others recently as he contends with an overall budget shortfall. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Evan Vucci

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., center, flanked by Sen. Christopher Coons, D-Del., left, and Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT., right, take part in news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011, to discuss Judiciary Committee action on legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. Feinstein is the lead sponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Pablo Martinez Monsivais

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. walks to a closed-door briefing with intelligence officials, Wednesday, June 4, 2014, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

J. Scott Applewhite

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. is surrounded by reporters on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014, as she leaves the Senate chamber after releasing a report on the CIA’s harsh interrogation techniques at secret overseas facilities. Feinstein branded the findings a “stain on the nation’s history.” (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

J. Scott Applewhite

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., attends a signing ceremony for a federal grant for the “regional connector transit corridor” in Los Angeles Thursday, Feb. 20, 2014. The light rail public transit system in Los Angeles is getting $670 million to solve one of its most vexing design deficiencies: Train riders who want to travel from one side of downtown and out the other must transfer twice. The “regional connector,” as the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority calls it, will tie together three existing light rail lines with a new tunnel and three new stations. Major construction should begin later this year, with an estimated cost of $1.4 billion. It will be opened in 2020. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Damian Dovarganes

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., waves after speaking at a news conference about health care at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Friday, July 7, 2017, in San Francisco. Feinstein addressed how Medicaid cuts in the Senate Republican health care bill would devastate care for children. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Eric Risberg

Vice President Mike Pence administers a ceremonial Senate oath during a mock swearing-in ceremony to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., accompanied by her husband Richard Blum, Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019, in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Manuel Balce Ceneta

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.,Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., walks at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

J. Scott Applewhite

Actress and activist Angelina Jolie, center, is joined from left by Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, at a news conference to announce a bipartisan update to the Violence Against Women Act, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

J. Scott Applewhite

FILE – Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., arrives for the Senate Democratic Caucus leadership election at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022. Feinstein’s months-long absence from the Senate has become a growing problem for Democrats. Feinstein’s vote is critical to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominees to the federal courts, but Feinstein is away from the Senate indefinitely as she recovers from the shingles. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

J. Scott Applewhite

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., left, talks with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., right, before a Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib)

Mariam Zuhaib

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., walks through a Senate corridor after telling her Democratic colleagues that she will not seek reelection in 2024, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

J. Scott Applewhite

You can reach Howard Yune at 530-763-2266 or hyune@napanews.com.

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The post President Biden praises Dianne Feinstein as defender of American values at San Francisco memorial appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

Almost everyone on the stage outside San Francisco’s City Hall on Thursday afternoon was a woman: the vice president, the former speaker of the House, the city’s mayor and more.

It was a meaningful, and intentional, reminder of the glass ceilings that Senator Dianne Feinstein had broken again and again as the city’s first female mayor and California’s first female senator.

“Millions of girls my age and long after me have grown blissfully free of the yokes our grandmothers wore because Dianne Feinstein wrestled them off,” Mayor London Breed, 49, told the crowd who had gathered in her city under unusually hot temperatures to honor the late senator. “She showed the way.”

The memorial for Ms. Feinstein, who died on Sept. 29 at age 90, was by turns a celebration of her long and unwavering efforts around gun control and opposition to wartime torture, a deeply personal remembrance by her granddaughter, and a testament to her love of all things San Francisco.

The gold-domed City Hall proved an appropriate backdrop. It was where Ms. Feinstein, a Democrat and the Senate’s oldest member, once served as the first female president of the board of supervisors, before becoming mayor.

“Our country has come a long way. You helped move the ball forward, and our nation salutes you,” said Vice President Kamala Harris, who served with Ms. Feinstein in the Senate.Credit…Amy Osborne/The New York Times

Vice President Kamala Harris, whose presence prompted the blocks all around City Hall to be closed, recalled that when she was sworn in as the junior senator from California in 2017, Ms. Feinstein, the senior senator, pulled her into a private hideaway off the Senate floor and handed her a glass of California chardonnay and a binder full of draft bills.

“Dianne, the women of America have come a long way,” Ms. Harris, the first woman to serve as vice president, told the gathered group, which included some 40 current and former members of the Senate and House. “Our country has come a long way. You helped move the ball forward, and our nation salutes you.”

As the afternoon wore on, the speakers were repeatedly interrupted by the roar of the Blue Angels — blue and yellow military jets that rattle nerves and windows every October for Fleet Week, an air show and parade of ships celebrating the U.S. Navy, which this year was dedicated to Ms. Feinstein.

The persistent jets were one more reminder that while Ms. Feinstein had served in the Senate for more than 30 years, her ties to her hometown remained deep.

Her death prompted tributes from the 49ers football team and the Giants baseball team. The day before her memorial, thousands of people lined up to pay their respects in front of her coffin, draped in an American flag, in the City Hall rotunda.

Her memorial on Thursday was dotted with San Francisco songs. Beforehand, “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” by Tony Bennett played over the loudspeakers. And the service ended with the San Francisco Girls Chorus performing “San Francisco,” with its famous lines, “Open your golden gate, you’ll let nobody wait outside your door.” The former is the city’s official ballad, and the latter its official song.

Many San Franciscans learned only over the past week that they owed many of their city’s trademarks to Ms. Feinstein — including the cable cars, the historic streetcars, and Pier 39, the tourist waterfront spot. Turns out, she started the city’s Fleet Week and the Blue Angels appearances, too — back in 1981.

Representative Nancy Pelosi, the former House speaker, with Ms. Feinstein’s granddaughter, Eileen Mariano, on Thursday.Credit…Amy Osborne/The New York Times

Ms. Feinstein steered San Francisco through some of its darkest times after the 1978 assassination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, events that propelled her into the mayor’s seat. She is credited with providing compassion and city dollars during the onset of the AIDS pandemic, which obliterated the city’s gay community. She fought to preserve Lake Tahoe and created Joshua Tree National Park.

The tributes came from far beyond California. President Biden, who provided a military plane to fly Ms. Feinstein’s body home from Washington, recorded video remarks that were played at the service, calling his longtime colleague during his years in the Senate “a reminder that our democracy depends on the constitution of our character as people.”

Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader and the only man in elected office to speak at Ms. Feinstein’s service, recalled her for her grit. He remembered a day when she had hobbled around on an injured ankle to continue her work, and her no-nonsense response when he asked her how she had persisted: “I just did.”

Among those in attendance were some of the people who are hoping to assume Ms. Feinstein’s place in the Senate: Representatives Adam Schiff and Barbara Lee, both Democrats. Laphonza Butler, whom Gov. Gavin Newsom has tapped to complete Ms. Feinstein’s current Senate term, also attended. Representative Katie Porter, another Democrat who has entered the race for Senate, did not attend, according to Ms. Feinstein’s office.

Eileen Mariano, Ms. Feinstein’s granddaughter, remembered her grandmother outside of a political sphere — as someone who always backed her up, picked flowers with her and played chess with her.

“To me, she will be remembered as the most incredible grandmother,” said Ms. Mariano, who works as a policy adviser to Ms. Breed.

Ms. Mariano, 31, recalled sleepovers at Ms. Feinstein’s home in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, but also the crucial advice that her grandmother had left her with, pressing the value of hard work and doing something you love.

Her grandmother, she said, had urged her to find her life’s passion, to “earn your spurs” — and always, whatever trip you’re going on, “pack a black pantsuit.”

Emily Cochrane, Shawn Hubler and Colbi Edmonds contributed reporting.

The post Dianne Feinstein Honored at Memorial Service in San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will be among those delivering remarks at Thursday’s memorial for the late U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein on the steps of San Francisco City Hall, where she served as the city’s first female mayor.

The service will mark the end of two days of events in the city that launched Feinstein’s political career. On Wednesday, mourners streamed into City Hall to pay their respects, honoring Feinstein as fearless, smart and the glue who kept the city together after two shocking political assassinations.

“She wasn’t afraid to do a man’s job. She wasn’t afraid to be a senator. She wasn’t afraid to go after what she wanted,” said Lawanda Carter, 48, of San Francisco. “And that’s encouragement for us women now to have courage.”

Carter was among the scores of everyday San Franciscans and political leaders alike who brought flowers, bowed their heads or clasped their hands in prayer as they stood before Feinstein’s casket, which was draped in an American flag and on display behind velvet ropes. Many said they had never met Feinstein, but wanted to honor an indefatigable public servant who fought to level the playing field for women, members of the LGBTQ community and racial minorities.

Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, also of San Francisco, and Mayor London Breed were among the officials who paid their respects.

Feinstein died early Friday in her Washington, D.C., home of natural causes, said Adam Russell, a spokesperson for her office. She was 90.

A recorded message from President Joe Biden will be played at Thursday’s memorial, where Pelosi and Feinstein’s granddaughter, Eileen Mariano, are also scheduled to speak. Gov. Gavin Newsom, himself a former San Francisco mayor, and former California Gov. Jerry Brown are also expected to be in attendance. A livestream is planned of the service, which will be closed to the public.

Feinstein was one of California’s first two women U.S. senators, a job she first won alongside Barbara Boxer in 1992, dubbed the “ Year of the Woman.”

Feinstein spent much of her career in the U.S. Senate but will be known as the forever mayor of San Francisco, a role she inherited in tragedy. She was president of the Board of Supervisors in November 1978 when a former supervisor assassinated Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the city’s first openly gay supervisor, at City Hall.

Feinstein, who found Milk’s body, became acting mayor and won election twice to serve as mayor until 1988.

Georgia Otterson, 76, a health care administrator, said Feinstein wasn’t as politically liberal as she would have liked, but the late mayor earned her respect with how she kept the heartbroken city together.

“We were all mourning together, holding candles. If memory serves me, Joan Baez sang,” Otterson said of an impromptu march that night from the historically gay Castro District to City Hall. “And she held us up.”

As a centrist Democrat, Feinstein was criticized by people on the left, including for her support for the death penalty, and in her later years, for working with Republicans. But the straight, white woman largely earned the gratitude of a city that celebrates its racial and sexual diversity.

She steered San Francisco through the HIV and AIDS crisis, bringing attention to an epidemic ignored by President Ronald Reagan. She also secured federal and private funding to save the city’s iconic cable cars from death by deterioration.

Feinstein led the city as it played host to the Democratic National Convention in 1984. Another San Francisco tradition — “Fleet Week” — was started by Feinstein in 1981, and this year’s annual celebration of air shows, naval ships and military bands is dedicated to her.

While Feinstein’s career sent her to Washington, she remained deeply involved in the affairs of San Francisco, the city where she was born and raised. She often called her successors — including Newsom — to complain about potholes or trash and to offer advice and encouragement.

Breed recalled looking up to Feinstein when she was a Black kid growing up in public housing and playing the French horn in a middle school band that performed regularly at mayoral events.

“She was so proud of us and she said so, and she took the time to talk to us, express how amazing we were and to remind us that we were her band,” Breed said at a news conference the day after Feinstein’s death.

Mourners Wednesday expressed their pride in Feinstein.

“She kept moving on up. I was proud of her, very proud of her,” said Dorothy Hudson, 81, a retired federal government employee. “She was very kind, very smart. She opened doors up to let people know, ‘You can do it.’”

San Francisco native Cari Donovan placed a bouquet of red and pink lilies and daisies on the floor before the casket. She lingered, crying quietly over a woman she never knew but who was so important to her life.

“She championed and fought for the rights of so many people,” Donovan said. “I’m so grateful. And I really just wanted her family to know how much she meant to me.”

The social worker said she talked to her 28-year-old daughter about the battles Feinstein fought so that younger generations of women could dream bigger. “She was a lioness.”

——

AP researcher Randy Herschaft in New York and writer Christopher Weber in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Two San Francisco gang members who opened fire during a funeral reception for a pimp, killing one person and wounding four innocent bystanders, were sentenced Wednesday to life in federal prison, prosecutors said.

Robert Manning, 31, and Jamare Coats, 29, were sentenced for a March 23, 2019 shooting that took place in front of the Fillmore Heritage Center and not far from a police station.

The men who belonged to a local street gang got into a shootout on a crowded sidewalk during which at least 24 shots were fired, the US attorney’s office for the Northern District of California said in a statement.

Prosecutors said the battle began with a confrontation between several gang members and associates attending a reception at the center for Ron Newt, who had died that month at 69. Newt was a well-known and flamboyant San Francisco pimp in the 1970s and 1980s.

The victim, 25-year-old Mister Dee Carnell Simmons III, “acted disrespectfully towards them, branding a firearm and threatening” them, the US attorney’s statement said.

Manning, Coats and others left the building and went to their parked cars where Manning and Coats armed themselves and got into the shootout with Simmons, who died of his wounds, authorities said.

Four other people were wounded in the crossfire, including a bystander who was shot in the back and paralyzed from the waist down as he tried to escape the shooting, prosecutors said.

Manning and Coats were convicted in August of murder in aid of racketeering and of being felons in possession of firearms.

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SAN JOSE (CBS SF) — Family and friends on Friday were celebrating the life of the San Jose police officer and former San Jose State running back who died suddenly in his home earlier this month.

Police and firefighters found 24-year-old DeJon Packer unconscious at his Milpitas home on March 14. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

READ MORE: Biden to Propose Budget With Minimum Tax on Households Worth $100 million

“DeJon graduated the police academy just one year ago. He was beloved by the San Jose community and was a celebrated former SJSU football player,” the department said in a tweet posted the following day.

Our police family is devastated by the sudden loss of Officer DeJon Packer who passed away last night.

DeJon graduated the police academy just one year ago. He was beloved by the San Jose community and was a celebrated former SJSU football player. pic.twitter.com/qrTQZGkDoJ

— San Jose Police Media Relations (@SJPD_PIO) March 14, 2022

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo also offered his condolences. “We remember him for his courageous commitment to our city,” he said.

My heart breaks for the family and many friends of @SanJosePD officer DeJon Packer. DeJon graduated from Gunderson High School, played football for @SJSU, and after graduation, served his community as a police officer. (1/2) https://t.co/Afj7JPvCdE

— Sam Liccardo (@sliccardo) March 14, 2022

Services remembering packers are underground. Visitation began Friday at noon and continues until 7 pm at Darling Fischer Garden Chapel in San Jose.

READ MORE: California Schools Prepare for Mass, Post-Break COVID-19 Testing

On Saturday, the viewing begins at 10 am followed by funeral services at 11. Both will be at Redemption Church.

A native of San Jose and a graduate of Gunderson High School, Packer played two seasons at San Jose City College before playing for the Spartans at SJSU.

Over his three seasons at San Jose State, Packer played 26 games and scored the game-winning touchdown in a 2019 upset against Arkansas, the team’s first ever win against an SEC opponent.

One of the biggest plays in recent history..

RIP Pack pic.twitter.com/AoB1zSSXa0

— San Jose State Football (@SanJoseStateFB) March 14, 2022

“We are deeply saddened by the news of DeJon Packer. The San Jose State Football family has suffered a great loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with DeJon’s family & friends,” the team said in a statement.

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The coroner’s office has not released an official cause of death. The Milpitas Police Department is assisting with the investigation into the cause of death.

The post San Jose Police Officer, Former SJSU Soccer Star Packer Remembered at Memorial Providers – CBS San Francisco appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

SAN JOSE (CBS SF) — Family and friends on Friday were celebrating the life of the San Jose police officer and former San Jose State running back who died suddenly in his home earlier this month.

Police and firefighters found 24-year-old DeJon Packer unconscious at his Milpitas home on March 14. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

READ MORE: Man Shot After Trying To Disarm Gunman During Stockton Robbery

“DeJon graduated the police academy just one year ago. He was beloved by the San Jose community and was a celebrated former SJSU football player,” the department said in a tweet posted the following day.

Our police family is devastated by the sudden loss of Officer DeJon Packer who passed away last night.

DeJon graduated the police academy just one year ago. He was beloved by the San Jose community and was a celebrated former SJSU football player. pic.twitter.com/qrTQZGkDoJ

— San Jose Police Media Relations (@SJPD_PIO) March 14, 2022

San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo also offered his condolences. “We remember him for his courageous commitment to our city,” he said.

My heart breaks for the family and many friends of @SanJosePD officer DeJon Packer. DeJon graduated from Gunderson High School, played football for @SJSU, and after graduation, served his community as a police officer. (1/2) https://t.co/Afj7JPvCdE

— Sam Liccardo (@sliccardo) March 14, 2022

Services remembering packers are underground. Visitation began Friday at noon and continues until 7 pm at Darling Fischer Garden Chapel in San Jose.

READ MORE: Major Retail Theft Ring Busted; Among Targets Bay Area Macy’s Stores; JCPenney In Stoneridge Mall

On Saturday, the viewing begins at 10 am followed by funeral services at 11. Both will be at Redemption Church.

A native of San Jose and a graduate of Gunderson High School, Packer played two seasons at San Jose City College before playing for the Spartans at SJSU.

Over his three seasons at San Jose State, Packer played 26 games and scored the game-winning touchdown in a 2019 upset against Arkansas, the team’s first ever win against an SEC opponent.

One of the biggest plays in recent history..

RIP Pack pic.twitter.com/AoB1zSSXa0

— San Jose State Football (@SanJoseStateFB) March 14, 2022

“We are deeply saddened by the news of DeJon Packer. The San Jose State Football family has suffered a great loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with DeJon’s family & friends,” the team said in a statement.

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The coroner’s office has not released an official cause of death. The Milpitas Police Department is assisting with the investigation into the cause of death.

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A moving memorial ceremony was held Monday to commemorate the glorious life of the recently deceased head coach of the then Oakland Raiderstelevision’s great bradcaster and the face of football’s most famous video game, John Madden.

Oakland, the venue for the event

While a private ceremony had already been held at his funeral, this time it was an event open to the public at RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland, California, the home of the Raiders when Madden was their head coach.

“When John passed, I said, I want to have a gathering at the coliseum,” Virginia Madden, John’s widow, said. “I know he’s up there and I know he’s smiling down on all of his players that are here and all of you fans that supported him throughout the years.”

charity event

This event was a charity event as all proceeds from the $32.14 general admission tickets (commemorating the 32-14 score by which the Raiders defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl XIthe first Vince Lombardi Trophy in franchise history and the only one in Madden’s career) will be donated to the causes of the John Madden Foundation to provide educational opportunities for the youth of Oakland.

Mariucci, Reid and Rivera were the keynote speakers

Featured speakers included Steve Mariucciformer head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and current NFL Network analyst, Andy Reidhead coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Ron Riverahead coach of the Washington Commanders.

“Coach Madden loved life, and life loved him back. Coach was able to turn everything into gold,” Reid said. “John Madden is in heaven now. It’s 100 times bigger than the Hall of Fame. He’s constantly talking to the greats of all sports, and telling them why football is the greatest sport of them all.”

During the ceremony, the colorful fans of the famous “black today” were present in the traditional costumes that characterized the Raiders’ home games in Oakland, which has moved a couple of seasons ago to Las Vegas.

The post Shifting memorial ceremony for the lifetime of John Madden on the former house of the Raiders in Oakland appeared first on DAILY SAN FRANCISCO BAY NEWS.

San Francisco Ballet is back – with a vengeance! The first program of their 2022 season concludes with arguably the most joyous 35 minutes of dance ever created, George Balanchine’s neoclassical masterpiece Symphony in C. Set to Bizet’s fizzy first symphony, composed when he was only 17, the entire ballet is a delight, but it reaches its apex in the final movement as dozens and dozens of dancers fill the stage, their stark white and black costumes standing in sharp relief against the sky-blue backdrop. As the dancers dive into the challenging choreography with gusto, it feels as if the stage erupts in a burst of fireworks. Yes, this is exactly what we’ve been missing for the past two years, this feeling of rapturous joy that simply cannot be transmitted via a video screen.Max Cauthorn and Sasha De Sola at San Francisco Ballet’s
production of Helgi Tomasson’s Trio

Program 1 opens with Trio, an attractive ballet by SFB’s soon-to-retire Artistic Director, Helgi Tomasson, and it’s what I would call a patented Tomasson piece – decent choreography set to gorgeous music with ample opportunity for terrific dancing. It’s not the kind of ballet that’s going to set the world on fire, or that you’ll likely remember a year from now, but it is very pleasant to watch in the moment and shows off the depth of talent in this remarkable company. In this case, Tomasson has chosen Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous Souvenir de Florence, which surprisingly wanders from Italy to Russia over the course of its four movements, the latter two combined into one (thus giving the ballet its name). A playful pas de deux opens the piece before giving way to a melancholic trio with undertones of a plot involving death conquering love, and the ballet concludes with a folk-dancy romp. Tomasson’s movement is consistently attentive to the shifts in the music, even as he cribs from Balanchine along the way. But as they say – if you’re going to steal, steal from the best.

(L to R) Daniel Deivison-Oliveira, Dores André and Luke Ingham in
San Francisco Ballet’s production of Helgi Tomasson’s Trio

The opening night cast was terrific top to bottom. Sasha De Sola and Max Cauthorn danced beautifully together in the first movement. She astonished with her spitfire turns and languorous balances, and he seemed perpetually airborne. Doris André, Luke Ingham and Daniel Deivison-Olivera made a nicely understated trio in the sorrowful second movement, letting the choreography speak for itself without piling on the pathos. Angelo Greco and Misa Kuranaga injected the finale with a spritz of playful energy that brought the ballet to a rousing close. And the corps de ballet of 10 dancers gave beautiful support to the principal dancers throughout, most notably the duo of Estéban Cuadrado and Mingxuan Wang, two dancers of different physiques and temperaments who somehow met in the middle through the perfectly matched elegance and lightness of their dancing.

Sarah Van Patten as the title character in Cathy Marston’s Mrs. Robinson, flanked by the corps de ballet

The middle piece of the program was the much-anticipated world premiere of Cathy Marston’s Mrs. Robinson, based on the source novel for the celebrated film The Graduate. Marston’s fresh idea is to tell the well-known story from the perspective of the middle-aged title character. This sounded fascinating in concept, but in execution, not so much. Working closely with dramaturg Edward Kemp and composer Terry Davies, Marston knows how to tell a story through dance – this is not one of those narrative ballets that leaves the audience mystified as to what they have just seen – but she does not have a feel for devising distinctive movement that illuminates character. Yes, there are odd sparks of this along the way, like the way Benjamin’s signature gesture of running his hand upwards over his face speaks to his discofiture in the world, but those moments are way too few and far between. Instead, we get multiple sequences of women in aprons miming household chores and falling to the floor. It’s a choreographic notion about the stultifying life of a housewife, but it’s not a novel or interesting one so it goes nowhere, even as it is repeated over and over again during the overlong ballet’s 45-minute running time. Sure, we get the concept, but we don’t feel it.

The central tries between Mrs. Robinson and Benjamin are equally lacking in imagination and, more problematically, real passion. There are some easy visual jokes about his awkwardness, including unfortunately broad allusions to his erection, but we never feel the couple’s true connection. This ultimately robs Mrs. Robinson’s emotional journey of any real impact. When she meets her unhappy end, it is mystifyingly abrupt and vaguely reminiscent of The Stepford Wives. What we really need is a culminating solo for Mrs. Robinson that delineates through movement her emotional state. Instead, we get a non-ending ending that leaves the audience perplexed.Joseph Walsh as Benjamin Braddock and Sarah Van Patten
as the title character in Cathy Marston’s Mrs. Robinson

Marston is not helped by her creative team. Patrick Kinmonth’s costumes seem oddly stuck in the staid 1950’s rather than the hip 1960’s and his sets look cheap and ill-constructed, rather than spare and stylized as I presume was intended. The lighting design by the usually terrific Jim French only calls attention to those deficiencies. I even began to wonder if this was on purpose, that the point was to shine a light on the shoddiness of the society it depicted. On the plus side, the dancers in the huge cast of 36 uniformly danced with commitment and style. I felt badly for Sarah Van Patten and Joseph Walsh in the leading roles. They are two of SFB’s most accomplished dancing actors and they complemented each other beautifully. Even with her beguiling opacity and his emotional transparency, though, hard as they tried they simply could not make their characters register for the audience. Oh how I would love to see them both dance a much better version of this same story!

After the low-key bewilderment of Mrs. Robinson, SFB came roaring back with the infinite glories of Symphony in C. Featuring an enormous cast of 52, including no less than four leading couples, there are simply too many moving parts for any ballet company to give a perfect performance of Symphony in C, but SFB gives it their considerable best. The corps women were stunningly light and crisp in the opening allegro movement, with a standout Julia Rowe in a demi-solo role. A playful yet regal Sasha De Sola and Aaron Robison, astonishing in the height of his jumps, led their ranks with dash and panache. The achingly gorgeous adagio second movement showed off just what Sarah Van Patten can do with a role worthy of her talents, as she alternated swoony melancholy in her pas de deux with Ulrik Birkkjaer with crisp changes of direction, mid-leap mind you, in her solo. Dores André and Max Cauthorn brought impish high spirits to the third movement before Henry Sidford and Jennifer Stahl kicked off the final section with spritely command.

(L to R) Elizabeth Mateer, Anatalia Hordov and Tyla Steinbach backed by the corps de ballet in George Balanchine’s Symphony in C

That last movement becomes a sort of balletic relay race as the tempo speeds up and teams of dancers from each of the proceeding movements dash onstage, performing brief flashes of intricate movement before ceding the stage to the next team. And there are delicious moments of unison dancing for the leading ballerinas, and then the leading men, that allow us the pleasure of watching these artists dance in synch with each other while still expressing their individuality. When the ballet ends with a celebratory whoosh of all 52 dancers filling the stage tutu to tutu in a kaleidoscope of geometry, jumping and twirling in delight, it is a distillation of pure joy.

[All photos by Erik Tomasson]

Live performances of San Francisco Ballet’s Program 1 continue through Saturday, February 12th at the War Memorial Opera House, 301 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, CA. Running time is approximately 2:40, including two intermissions. Proof of full COVID vaccination and wearing of masks while in the building are required. For tickets and additional information, visit www.sfballet.org or call (415) 865-2000, MF 10am-4pm.

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