Robert Charles Rosen
Birth: 13 Jan 1928, San Francisco, California
Spouse: Marilyn Alice Marcus
Birth: 3 May 1930, San Francisco, California
Marriage: 28 Jun 1953, San Francisco, California
Divorce: Aug 1966, San Francisco, California
Death: 12 May 2009 in San Francisco, California
Children: Mark Charles (1956-)
Linda Jennie (1957-)
Spouse: Josette Bertha Dumenil Hoffman
Birth: 17 Apr 1935, Colorado
Marriage: 8 Jul 1968, Carson City, NV
Divorce: 25 Feb 1981, San Mateo, California
Death: 3 Oct 1988 in Novato, Marin, California
Spouse: Shelby Warren Miller
Birth: 28 Sep 1935, San Francisco
Marriage: 25 Jan 1984, Clark, Nevada
Bob Rosen was born Robert Charles Rosenberg on January 13, 1928. Initially the family lived in Noe Valley, but they moved to the house at 2124 Anza Street when Bobby was six. The Fischers lived right around the corner. Bobby was there so often that Hal’s granddaughter Andrea thought Gert had died young and that Juel had raised him. Juel and Charlie’s children were older than Bob, but he always looked up to Hal as a g brother and he was close to Ruth, who was nearest his own age. He was very close to his mother as his father Meyer was always at work or out fooling around. He remembered going to his mother taking him around town trying to find Meyer and it had a lasting impact on his future relationships.
Young Bobby did not go to work very often with his father, especially after the construction site incident when he was five. Meyer drove him to a site that would be the SF Airport which he would supervise one day. Meyer told him to stay in the car while he talked to the workers. Bobby got bored, left the car, and wandered over to play on a nearby hill. He did not know it was being dynamited for removal. Luckily, the charge was relatively small and Bobby was on the other side, but it went off, sending him tumbling down the hill and scraping him up. Bob remembered Meyer being mostly worried about what Gert was going to do to him.
Baseball was a big part of his life growing up. His uncles Lou and Harry Rosenberg were professional ball players. Lou played for the Yankees and Harry for the New York Giants. Gert took Bobby to Seal Stadium quite often and he was well known in the clubhouse. No one called him Bob or Bobby, though. They all called him the Irish Jew. He became quite a good baseball player himself, playing sandlot and little league in the Richmond district.
Spouse: Marilyn Alice Marcus
Birth: 3 May 1930, San Francisco, California
Marriage: 28 Jun 1953, San Francisco, California
Divorce: Aug 1966, San Francisco, California
Death: 12 May 2009 in San Francisco, California
Children: Mark Charles (1956-)
Linda Jennie (1957-)
Spouse: Josette Bertha Dumenil Hoffman
Birth: 17 Apr 1935, Colorado
Marriage: 8 Jul 1968, Carson City, NV
Divorce: 25 Feb 1981, San Mateo, California
Death: 3 Oct 1988 in Novato, Marin, California
Spouse: Shelby Warren Miller
Birth: 28 Sep 1935, San Francisco
Marriage: 25 Jan 1984, Clark, Nevada
Bob Rosen was born Robert Charles Rosenberg on January 13, 1928. Initially the family lived in Noe Valley, but they moved to the house at 2124 Anza Street when Bobby was six. The Fischers lived right around the corner. Bobby was there so often that Hal’s granddaughter Andrea thought Gert had died young and that Juel had raised him. Juel and Charlie’s children were older than Bob, but he always looked up to Hal as a g brother and he was close to Ruth, who was nearest his own age. He was very close to his mother as his father Meyer was always at work or out fooling around. He remembered going to his mother taking him around town trying to find Meyer and it had a lasting impact on his future relationships.
Young Bobby did not go to work very often with his father, especially after the construction site incident when he was five. Meyer drove him to a site that would be the SF Airport which he would supervise one day. Meyer told him to stay in the car while he talked to the workers. Bobby got bored, left the car, and wandered over to play on a nearby hill. He did not know it was being dynamited for removal. Luckily, the charge was relatively small and Bobby was on the other side, but it went off, sending him tumbling down the hill and scraping him up. Bob remembered Meyer being mostly worried about what Gert was going to do to him.
Baseball was a big part of his life growing up. His uncles Lou and Harry Rosenberg were professional ball players. Lou played for the Yankees and Harry for the New York Giants. Gert took Bobby to Seal Stadium quite often and he was well known in the clubhouse. No one called him Bob or Bobby, though. They all called him the Irish Jew. He became quite a good baseball player himself, playing sandlot and little league in the Richmond district.
Bob attended the newly opened George Washington High on 30th Avenue and Geary. Like his father and uncles, he was quite a good athlete. He played basketball and baseball, though baseball was his better sport. His cousin Dolores remembered going to see him play in the outfield in the City Championship at Seal Stadium. (Neither of them knew that one of the outfielders playing for Mission High was her future husband John’s cousin, Bob Quattrin.) Bobby was a member of the Eagle Society (Washington’s Athletic Block Club) and was a senior advisor to underclassmen. According to the 1946 Yearbook, his goal was to become a commercial artist. Being born at the beginning of the year, he would have graduated in the Class of 45X, like John Quattrin. The grades in San Francisco public schools were split back then. Students born in the first half of the year graduated in December and those born in the second half graduated in June. He attended San Francisco State for a few weeks before his number came up in the draft.
On April 4, 1946, Bob enlisted the Army. His enlistment record shows him as 5’ 9”, 145 pounds. On one of his first days at Camp Beale Marysville, a man came through asking for volunteers who could play baseball. Bob did not raise his hand because Hal had warned him never to volunteer. He missed an opportunity to play around the country on an Army all-star team. Instead, he got shipped of to the Philippines. He was stationed in Manila. He did get to exercise his artistic talents, though, painting backdrops for the USO shows. He did such a good job that he was asked to do an oil painting on a wall in the Mess Hall.
Upon returning home, he went to work for his father’s construction company running a steam shovel. One day the steam shovel broke down around lunchtime, so Bob decided to take the afternoon off. On the way home, he stopped at Big Rec because he recognized his Uncle Lou working out for an old-timers game. Lou told him to go home to get his stuff and join in. When he came back, there was a high school game going on and several pro scouts were in attendance. Lou introduced him to Bill Brenzel of the St. Louis Cardinals, who was impressed enough to invite Bob to their training camp. As Bob said to Roger Williams in a Chronicle Sports-man About Town article, “It’s funny the way fate steps in. If it had not been for that steam shovel breaking down, I wouldn’t be headed for the St. Louis Cardinals’ spring training camp tomorrow, that’s for sure.” Bob never made it to the big league, but he did “have a cup of coffee” with a farm team. The Cards offered him a contract, but he did not think it was enough. He went home to San Francisco and played semi-pro ball for a bigger contract.
In 1950, Bob was privileged to basketball for the Oakland Bitters. This was one of the first interracial teams in the country and his cousin Hal Fischer was the coach. All-star Don Barksdale, who had played at Marin JC and UCLA was on the team as well. Bob later said he made the team mostly because he was under 6 feet tall and they were going to play in Korea where American teams were limited in how many tall players they could have on the roster.
Bob had many good, lifelong friends that he referred to as The Omega Boys. They were part of the high school fraternity at Washington. Most of them were athletes. Guys like Don Blumenfeld, Ed Harlem, and Julian Rhine, who had all been in the Eagle Society, were always horsing around with Bob. Mark Rosen remembered hearing stories about stealing a canoe from a storage shed in Tahoe one summer night and about the pranks they played on each other. Bob had an old Model A and they guys pushed it into Laurel Cemetery one night to hide it. Bob thought it was stolen and was frantic. As teenage boys do to their friends, they let him stew for a while before telling him where it was.
Bob was not dating anyone in 1949 and decided to go stag to a New Year’s Eve party thrown by the Omegas. It was there that he locked eye with a vivacious young college student named Marilyn Marcus.
On April 4, 1946, Bob enlisted the Army. His enlistment record shows him as 5’ 9”, 145 pounds. On one of his first days at Camp Beale Marysville, a man came through asking for volunteers who could play baseball. Bob did not raise his hand because Hal had warned him never to volunteer. He missed an opportunity to play around the country on an Army all-star team. Instead, he got shipped of to the Philippines. He was stationed in Manila. He did get to exercise his artistic talents, though, painting backdrops for the USO shows. He did such a good job that he was asked to do an oil painting on a wall in the Mess Hall.
Upon returning home, he went to work for his father’s construction company running a steam shovel. One day the steam shovel broke down around lunchtime, so Bob decided to take the afternoon off. On the way home, he stopped at Big Rec because he recognized his Uncle Lou working out for an old-timers game. Lou told him to go home to get his stuff and join in. When he came back, there was a high school game going on and several pro scouts were in attendance. Lou introduced him to Bill Brenzel of the St. Louis Cardinals, who was impressed enough to invite Bob to their training camp. As Bob said to Roger Williams in a Chronicle Sports-man About Town article, “It’s funny the way fate steps in. If it had not been for that steam shovel breaking down, I wouldn’t be headed for the St. Louis Cardinals’ spring training camp tomorrow, that’s for sure.” Bob never made it to the big league, but he did “have a cup of coffee” with a farm team. The Cards offered him a contract, but he did not think it was enough. He went home to San Francisco and played semi-pro ball for a bigger contract.
In 1950, Bob was privileged to basketball for the Oakland Bitters. This was one of the first interracial teams in the country and his cousin Hal Fischer was the coach. All-star Don Barksdale, who had played at Marin JC and UCLA was on the team as well. Bob later said he made the team mostly because he was under 6 feet tall and they were going to play in Korea where American teams were limited in how many tall players they could have on the roster.
Bob had many good, lifelong friends that he referred to as The Omega Boys. They were part of the high school fraternity at Washington. Most of them were athletes. Guys like Don Blumenfeld, Ed Harlem, and Julian Rhine, who had all been in the Eagle Society, were always horsing around with Bob. Mark Rosen remembered hearing stories about stealing a canoe from a storage shed in Tahoe one summer night and about the pranks they played on each other. Bob had an old Model A and they guys pushed it into Laurel Cemetery one night to hide it. Bob thought it was stolen and was frantic. As teenage boys do to their friends, they let him stew for a while before telling him where it was.
Bob was not dating anyone in 1949 and decided to go stag to a New Year’s Eve party thrown by the Omegas. It was there that he locked eye with a vivacious young college student named Marilyn Marcus.
Marilyn Alice Marcus was born on May 3, 1930, in San Francisco. She was the youngest child of Asher Marcus, the owner of a clothing apparel store, and Jennie Stein. They lived at 24 Ashbury, in the Haight. Her mother died when she was ten and her father died the next year. She was taken in and raised by her older half-brother Gerald S Levin. Gerald was a lawyer, a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Bolt Hall, and would go on to be a Supreme Court Judge. He was 24 years older than Marilyn and a huge influence on her life.
Like Bob, Marilyn attended Washington HS, but she was two years behind him and they did not know each other then. She was on the yearbook staff and graduated in 1948. She attended San Francisco State and would go on to Stanford to get a degree in Education. Her daughter described her as very social, more of a “Party girl than you would expect from a kindergarten teacher.” At the time of the party, she was date Bob Clearfield (who would go on to be a surgeon at Stanford Hospital) but she dropped him that night for Bobby Rosenberg.
Gerald did not like Bob. Maybe more accurately, Gerald did not like Meyer. Gerald was always on the right side of the law and Meyer seemed to blur the line…if indeed he believed there was line at all. Gerald insisted that Marilyn graduate from college before she consider getting married. When she finished at Stanford in 1952, he took her on a tour of Europe in the hopes that she would forget about Bob. It might have worked to if fate ha not stepped in again. When they returned home, Gerald had a heart attack and was hospitalized at the same time that Bob’s mother was in the hospital dying. Marilyn and Bob ended up spending even more time together and consoling each other through their troubles.
In early 1953, Bob got an offer to play baseball in Seattle, but Marilyn gave Bob an ultimatum: either quit playing ball, get a real job, and marry her, or move on. As Bob remembered it, she said, “Playtime is over!” Bob chose her. On June 28, 1953, they married in San Francisco. Before they married, Bob changed his name legally to Rosen at Marilyn’s—and Gerald’s—insistence, to distance himself from Meyer’s debt issues and legal shenanigans. Meyer had lost his contractor’s license earlier and had convinced Bob to get his own license, so Meyer could continue to run Bernal Construction on Bob’s License. Gerald got Bob a job with the City Assessor’s Office, first as a land appraiser and later as a department superintendent. Marilyn took a job as kindergarten teacher and would teach hundreds of San Francisco children over the next 29 years.
The Rosens bought a house in the Sunset at 1838 – 15th Avenue, just two blocks from both Hazel Coogan Bradford and Irene Coogan Ellison. In 1956, they had their first child, Mark Charles, followed the next year by a daughter, Linda Jennie. Neither Bob nor Marilyn had much of a religious upbringing, and they did not raise their children Jewish early on. That changed one day when Mark and Linda were playing outside and some Catholic friends came home for Church and accused Mark of “killing Jesus.” Mark said, “No I didn’t. I’ve never even met him. Does he live a couple of blocks over?” Linda assured them that Mark did not do it and that he was an honorable person. When they told Bob and Marilyn about it, they were put in Hebrew school the next weekend so they could learn about their heritage.
Bob’s religion was tennis. He played almost every day and was very good. He and his buddy Ray Squire even entered the Seniors Doubles Tournament through the Elks Club in Millbrae. They won the NorCal Championship and went on to the National Tournament in Chicago, where they came in second. He also became an acolyte of golf. He would continue to play both well into his eighties.
In 1955, Bob landed a new job at the San Francisco Airport as a maintenance supervisor. He would work there for the next 13 years. When he started, the Airport annually handled 3 million passengers, 35 million pounds of mail, and 60 million pounds of freight. By the time he left, the passenger load had more than quadrupled, the mail had increased 800% and the freight had increased over 900%. He had overseen the greatest growth in the history of SFO. It was not all work, though. Linda remembered him setting up a go-cart track for the kids on an unused runway at the Airport.
Bob had always been close to his first cousin Ruth, and he became great friends with her husband Ruben. They were both physically very active, and they shared a love of gambling. Since their children were roughly the same age, they would sometimes take summer vacations together at the Lazy – S Lodge in South Lake Tahoe. Mark remembered one particular trip in 1963. Bob drove his family in their new ’63 Chevy Impala to Utah where the Schneiders had just relocated. Bob and Ruben had a bet as to who would get to Tahoe faster, Bob driving or Ruben Flying. With Mark and Ruth’s son Bruce and the luggage, Bob took off at over 100 mph through the high-plains desert of Utah and Nevada. At one point, he slowed down to 90 and Mark asked what was wrong. Bob said, “Something doesn’t sound right. I think something is wrong.” He was continuing to slow when a rear tire blew out. Bob was a good driver and controlled the car as they slowed down enough to pullover. They had to unload the luggage all over the roadside to get the spare out and change the tire. Then they had to wait in the over 90-degree heat for the tire to cool off before Bob could change it. Bob was swearing the whole time, mostly because they were losing time. He threw the luggage back in the trunk and put the tire in the back seat where it proceeded to melt the Naugahyde seat. Bob did not care, though. He had a bet to win. They got back on the road, got back up to speed, and made it to Tahoe in one piece. No one remembers what the stakes were or who won, but the adventure was a lasting memory to seven-year-old Mark.
In the early 1960s, Bob came to the attention of James Carr, the Secretary for the Interior in of the Kennedy Administration. A federal program had been put into action that placed 100 young men from the Fillmore district as workers at the Airport. With only 24 hours notice, Bob had to deal with this influx of untrained workers. He quickly broke them into groups of ten and spread them throughout his departments. He quickly realized they need a fulltime teacher and program trainer who could handle this new diversity in the workforce, but there were no funds. Bob took a page out of Meyer’s South-of-Market-Boys playbook and looked up an old basketball buddy that was working in the State legislature. That friend, future Mayor George Moscone, obtained the passage of the requisite bill to supply the money and a new teacher from the Fillmore was hired. Jim Carr say immediately that Bob was a man who could get things done and, from that point, Bob was his “golden boy.” Later, Jim would become the head of the PUC and, some said, a higher power than the Mayor.
Like Bob, Marilyn attended Washington HS, but she was two years behind him and they did not know each other then. She was on the yearbook staff and graduated in 1948. She attended San Francisco State and would go on to Stanford to get a degree in Education. Her daughter described her as very social, more of a “Party girl than you would expect from a kindergarten teacher.” At the time of the party, she was date Bob Clearfield (who would go on to be a surgeon at Stanford Hospital) but she dropped him that night for Bobby Rosenberg.
Gerald did not like Bob. Maybe more accurately, Gerald did not like Meyer. Gerald was always on the right side of the law and Meyer seemed to blur the line…if indeed he believed there was line at all. Gerald insisted that Marilyn graduate from college before she consider getting married. When she finished at Stanford in 1952, he took her on a tour of Europe in the hopes that she would forget about Bob. It might have worked to if fate ha not stepped in again. When they returned home, Gerald had a heart attack and was hospitalized at the same time that Bob’s mother was in the hospital dying. Marilyn and Bob ended up spending even more time together and consoling each other through their troubles.
In early 1953, Bob got an offer to play baseball in Seattle, but Marilyn gave Bob an ultimatum: either quit playing ball, get a real job, and marry her, or move on. As Bob remembered it, she said, “Playtime is over!” Bob chose her. On June 28, 1953, they married in San Francisco. Before they married, Bob changed his name legally to Rosen at Marilyn’s—and Gerald’s—insistence, to distance himself from Meyer’s debt issues and legal shenanigans. Meyer had lost his contractor’s license earlier and had convinced Bob to get his own license, so Meyer could continue to run Bernal Construction on Bob’s License. Gerald got Bob a job with the City Assessor’s Office, first as a land appraiser and later as a department superintendent. Marilyn took a job as kindergarten teacher and would teach hundreds of San Francisco children over the next 29 years.
The Rosens bought a house in the Sunset at 1838 – 15th Avenue, just two blocks from both Hazel Coogan Bradford and Irene Coogan Ellison. In 1956, they had their first child, Mark Charles, followed the next year by a daughter, Linda Jennie. Neither Bob nor Marilyn had much of a religious upbringing, and they did not raise their children Jewish early on. That changed one day when Mark and Linda were playing outside and some Catholic friends came home for Church and accused Mark of “killing Jesus.” Mark said, “No I didn’t. I’ve never even met him. Does he live a couple of blocks over?” Linda assured them that Mark did not do it and that he was an honorable person. When they told Bob and Marilyn about it, they were put in Hebrew school the next weekend so they could learn about their heritage.
Bob’s religion was tennis. He played almost every day and was very good. He and his buddy Ray Squire even entered the Seniors Doubles Tournament through the Elks Club in Millbrae. They won the NorCal Championship and went on to the National Tournament in Chicago, where they came in second. He also became an acolyte of golf. He would continue to play both well into his eighties.
In 1955, Bob landed a new job at the San Francisco Airport as a maintenance supervisor. He would work there for the next 13 years. When he started, the Airport annually handled 3 million passengers, 35 million pounds of mail, and 60 million pounds of freight. By the time he left, the passenger load had more than quadrupled, the mail had increased 800% and the freight had increased over 900%. He had overseen the greatest growth in the history of SFO. It was not all work, though. Linda remembered him setting up a go-cart track for the kids on an unused runway at the Airport.
Bob had always been close to his first cousin Ruth, and he became great friends with her husband Ruben. They were both physically very active, and they shared a love of gambling. Since their children were roughly the same age, they would sometimes take summer vacations together at the Lazy – S Lodge in South Lake Tahoe. Mark remembered one particular trip in 1963. Bob drove his family in their new ’63 Chevy Impala to Utah where the Schneiders had just relocated. Bob and Ruben had a bet as to who would get to Tahoe faster, Bob driving or Ruben Flying. With Mark and Ruth’s son Bruce and the luggage, Bob took off at over 100 mph through the high-plains desert of Utah and Nevada. At one point, he slowed down to 90 and Mark asked what was wrong. Bob said, “Something doesn’t sound right. I think something is wrong.” He was continuing to slow when a rear tire blew out. Bob was a good driver and controlled the car as they slowed down enough to pullover. They had to unload the luggage all over the roadside to get the spare out and change the tire. Then they had to wait in the over 90-degree heat for the tire to cool off before Bob could change it. Bob was swearing the whole time, mostly because they were losing time. He threw the luggage back in the trunk and put the tire in the back seat where it proceeded to melt the Naugahyde seat. Bob did not care, though. He had a bet to win. They got back on the road, got back up to speed, and made it to Tahoe in one piece. No one remembers what the stakes were or who won, but the adventure was a lasting memory to seven-year-old Mark.
In the early 1960s, Bob came to the attention of James Carr, the Secretary for the Interior in of the Kennedy Administration. A federal program had been put into action that placed 100 young men from the Fillmore district as workers at the Airport. With only 24 hours notice, Bob had to deal with this influx of untrained workers. He quickly broke them into groups of ten and spread them throughout his departments. He quickly realized they need a fulltime teacher and program trainer who could handle this new diversity in the workforce, but there were no funds. Bob took a page out of Meyer’s South-of-Market-Boys playbook and looked up an old basketball buddy that was working in the State legislature. That friend, future Mayor George Moscone, obtained the passage of the requisite bill to supply the money and a new teacher from the Fillmore was hired. Jim Carr say immediately that Bob was a man who could get things done and, from that point, Bob was his “golden boy.” Later, Jim would become the head of the PUC and, some said, a higher power than the Mayor.
In 1964, Bob and Marilyn began building a new home at 115 Mendoza Avenue on a cul-de-sac in Forest Hill. At over 2600 square feet, it had three bedrooms two baths and a beautiful view. In 2016, it was estimated to be worth $2.3 million. Bob designed and installed all the electrical and plumbing himself. He spent endless hours in the evening going over blueprints and dealing with the contractor. It took two years to build, but Bob only lived there for six months.
Between long hours at work and Gerald’s dislike of Bob, the marriage was in trouble. At one point, while they were still building the house, Bob found another nice house with a yard and pool for sale in Hillsborough. He thought the commute would be shorter and they could start over. But Marilyn said she could not be so far away from Gerald. Bob decided that their marriage problems could not be fixed, so he packed his bags and moved out. They divorced in August of 1966.
Marilyn got the house and full custody of the children. The house had serious problems, though, and she entered a four-year lawsuit against the contractor. She and the children lived on Mendoza until it was sold in 1969. She and Ruth—who was furious with Bob over how the marriage ended—remained friends, and the children continued to see their cousins the Schneiders. Marilyn would go on to remarry twice and have another daughter. She passed away after a long illness on May 12, 2009, at the age of 74.
After the divorce, Bob moved to the Woodlake apartments in San Mateo, where, as his daughter said, “divorced men went to live.” It was close to the Airport and had tennis courts and a pool. (Fifteen years late, Bob’s cousin Blanche Coogan Gallagher would buy a condo there to live for the last two decades of her life.) During this period, Bob got to know the woman who ran the Hertz Rental counter at the Airport, Josette Dumenil Hoffman.
Josette Bertha Dumenil had been born in April 17, 1935, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. She was the youngest of the three children of French immigrants Pierre Dumenil, a private tutor, and Germann Harfinger, a dressmaker. Her parents had met on the boat coming over, married, and settled in Colorado. In the early 1940s, they moved to San Francisco where he took a job as a salesman and store manager for Shenleys. Josette and her sister Jacqui attended Mercy Burlingame High, though she also spent significant time in France during the late 1940s and early 1950s. After high school, Josette attended San Jose State, where she studied biochemistry until she decided that “science was not her forte.” She had dropped out and married a man named Richard Hoffman in 1956, and they had a son named Ricky together. The marriage did not last and they divorced in 1963, after which she took the job at the airport.
To say Josette was “the woman who ran the Hertz Rental counter at the Airport” is an understatement. In a 1965 article in the Chronicle, her job was describes as “a quadruple-hat position of hostess, public relations woman, fix-it girl, and car-delivery person.” She was basically a concierge who dealt with 1500 people a day, including luminaries like Alfred Hitchcock, Marlene Dietrich, Kim Novak, the Kingston Trio, and Cary Grant. On top of that, she was the unofficial French translator for the Airport and a member of Jimmy Hoffa’s Teamsters’ Union. The same article described her:
Cast your eyes upon the lusciously blonde French woman who holds the post locally. She is Josette Dumenil Hoffman, age 29, 5’ 2” and the possessor of a magnificent figure. The last is significant because Josette, being French, knows how to whip up a mean soufflé and enjoys putting away such continental foodstuffs as well. And how does she keep her figure? “Well, they call me the roadrunner,” she says.
Who could resist that? Bob and Josette married on July 8, 1968, at Carson City, Nevada.
A month before their wedding, Jim Carr tapped Bob to take over as manager of the Peninsula Division of the San Francisco Water Department. He would be responsible for all activities on the 23,000-acre watershed, including Crystal Springs Reservoir. He had to handle such things as the public relations issues surrounding the release of 300 million gallons of water from the Reservoir and into San Mateo Creek, in anticipation of forthcoming heavy rains. He explained in the San Mateo Times:
We are, of course, most conscious of the situation and maintain close watch on conditions of the lake and the creek. This is not at all unusual under the circumstances, though to those not dealing with such water quantities it seems like a great amount, and it is... But if we didn’t empty the lake, the spillage would occur without any control and then we would be concerned.
Between long hours at work and Gerald’s dislike of Bob, the marriage was in trouble. At one point, while they were still building the house, Bob found another nice house with a yard and pool for sale in Hillsborough. He thought the commute would be shorter and they could start over. But Marilyn said she could not be so far away from Gerald. Bob decided that their marriage problems could not be fixed, so he packed his bags and moved out. They divorced in August of 1966.
Marilyn got the house and full custody of the children. The house had serious problems, though, and she entered a four-year lawsuit against the contractor. She and the children lived on Mendoza until it was sold in 1969. She and Ruth—who was furious with Bob over how the marriage ended—remained friends, and the children continued to see their cousins the Schneiders. Marilyn would go on to remarry twice and have another daughter. She passed away after a long illness on May 12, 2009, at the age of 74.
After the divorce, Bob moved to the Woodlake apartments in San Mateo, where, as his daughter said, “divorced men went to live.” It was close to the Airport and had tennis courts and a pool. (Fifteen years late, Bob’s cousin Blanche Coogan Gallagher would buy a condo there to live for the last two decades of her life.) During this period, Bob got to know the woman who ran the Hertz Rental counter at the Airport, Josette Dumenil Hoffman.
Josette Bertha Dumenil had been born in April 17, 1935, near Colorado Springs, Colorado. She was the youngest of the three children of French immigrants Pierre Dumenil, a private tutor, and Germann Harfinger, a dressmaker. Her parents had met on the boat coming over, married, and settled in Colorado. In the early 1940s, they moved to San Francisco where he took a job as a salesman and store manager for Shenleys. Josette and her sister Jacqui attended Mercy Burlingame High, though she also spent significant time in France during the late 1940s and early 1950s. After high school, Josette attended San Jose State, where she studied biochemistry until she decided that “science was not her forte.” She had dropped out and married a man named Richard Hoffman in 1956, and they had a son named Ricky together. The marriage did not last and they divorced in 1963, after which she took the job at the airport.
To say Josette was “the woman who ran the Hertz Rental counter at the Airport” is an understatement. In a 1965 article in the Chronicle, her job was describes as “a quadruple-hat position of hostess, public relations woman, fix-it girl, and car-delivery person.” She was basically a concierge who dealt with 1500 people a day, including luminaries like Alfred Hitchcock, Marlene Dietrich, Kim Novak, the Kingston Trio, and Cary Grant. On top of that, she was the unofficial French translator for the Airport and a member of Jimmy Hoffa’s Teamsters’ Union. The same article described her:
Cast your eyes upon the lusciously blonde French woman who holds the post locally. She is Josette Dumenil Hoffman, age 29, 5’ 2” and the possessor of a magnificent figure. The last is significant because Josette, being French, knows how to whip up a mean soufflé and enjoys putting away such continental foodstuffs as well. And how does she keep her figure? “Well, they call me the roadrunner,” she says.
Who could resist that? Bob and Josette married on July 8, 1968, at Carson City, Nevada.
A month before their wedding, Jim Carr tapped Bob to take over as manager of the Peninsula Division of the San Francisco Water Department. He would be responsible for all activities on the 23,000-acre watershed, including Crystal Springs Reservoir. He had to handle such things as the public relations issues surrounding the release of 300 million gallons of water from the Reservoir and into San Mateo Creek, in anticipation of forthcoming heavy rains. He explained in the San Mateo Times:
We are, of course, most conscious of the situation and maintain close watch on conditions of the lake and the creek. This is not at all unusual under the circumstances, though to those not dealing with such water quantities it seems like a great amount, and it is... But if we didn’t empty the lake, the spillage would occur without any control and then we would be concerned.
The public seemed satisfied with his explanation, but, understanding how “good will” works, he reduced the release to 150 million gallons. In 1971, he was in charge of Project SOAR (Save our American Resources), part of the month-long Boys Scout Anniversary. The program included tree-planting and clean-up sessions at various public lands on the Peninsula.
One of the perks of the manager’s job was than he was allowed to live rent-free in the 1895 home on Ludeman Lane and Broadway, near El Camino. It had historically been the home of the manager of the Spring Valley Water Company. For the 90th anniversary in 1985, the house was preserved by the Millbrae Historical Society, moved to the Millbrae Civic Center on Poplar Avenue, and turned into the Millbrae History Museum.
Jim had wanted one of “his people” to take over this all-important job with the Water Department while he made the move to become the Manager of the Airport. Once there in 1973, Jim wanted Bob back at the Airport working for him. There was a written exam that Bob was concerned about passing (he always had trouble with tests), but Jim’s son was the head of the commission for the civil servants’ exam and was going to get Bob and oral exam. Bob was having second thoughts about going back to the Airport and Josette told helped him realize that Jim was going to overwork him there. When the oral exam alternative fell through, Bob decided to not take the job. The next day he had a massive heart attack and needed a quadruple bypass. The doctors told him the only reason he survived was that all that tennis had kept his one valve working better than most people’s all four combined. Thereafter, Bob always sad that “Tennis saved my life!”
With Josette’s encouragement, Bob retired from his 20-year civil servant career at only 42 years old. He later regretted it because the funds were not what they could have been and they went through it quickly. They bought the duplex at 3570 Crestmoor Drive in San Bruno. At the request of an 80-year-old neighbor, Bob began to work as a handyman and used his contractor’s license to work when he wanted. He often worked for friends and family, like building Linda’s apartments on Quintara. But he never charged a going rate because he did not fell he need the money to survive and felt guilty about “charging too much.” Some might have considered him a poor businessman, which would have been true if he were trying to establish a successful contracting business. But that was not his goal. He was just keeping busy and helping out.
In the late 1970s, Bob’s marriage began do suffer due to a combination of Josette’s job pressures at the Airport and her developing alcoholism. They divorced in February, 1981. Josette moved to Marin. She later entered a rehab center to try to get sober, but she died on July 8, 1988, of cancer. She was only 53 years old.
In 1975, Bob had helped build and open the Millbrae Tennis Club. This insured that he always had a place to play. Alone again after his divorce, he spent even more time there. Another member of the Club was Shelby Miller, and she definitely had her eye on Bob.
Shelby Miller had been born Shelby Warren on September 28, 1935, in San Francisco. She was the second child of Lewis Warren, a postal worker, and Esther Mizel. She grew up in her Mizel grandparents’ house at 138 Brussels Street in the Portola District, off of Silver and San Bruno Avenues. Later, she would move to 111 Everglades Drive, near Lakeshore Plaza. She attended Lowell High School and graduated in 1953. On December 24, 1954, she married Robert Miller. They lived on Geary in the outer Richmond initially, then they moved to Daly City. Shelby became a nurse and worked landed a job at Mount Zion Hospital. The Millers divorced in September of 1969, in San Mateo. She and Bob married on January 25, 1984, in Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada. She moved into Bob’s house in San Bruno and they have been together ever since.
In 1987, Bob became a grandfather for the first time with the birth of Jordan, the first of his four grandsons. Jordan was joined by a brother Spenser (1992), and two cousins, Elliot (1993) and David (1995) Reynolds. Shelby also had two grown children and would have four grandchildren—one grandson named David and three granddaughters—whom Bob considered like his own grandchildren.
One of the perks of the manager’s job was than he was allowed to live rent-free in the 1895 home on Ludeman Lane and Broadway, near El Camino. It had historically been the home of the manager of the Spring Valley Water Company. For the 90th anniversary in 1985, the house was preserved by the Millbrae Historical Society, moved to the Millbrae Civic Center on Poplar Avenue, and turned into the Millbrae History Museum.
Jim had wanted one of “his people” to take over this all-important job with the Water Department while he made the move to become the Manager of the Airport. Once there in 1973, Jim wanted Bob back at the Airport working for him. There was a written exam that Bob was concerned about passing (he always had trouble with tests), but Jim’s son was the head of the commission for the civil servants’ exam and was going to get Bob and oral exam. Bob was having second thoughts about going back to the Airport and Josette told helped him realize that Jim was going to overwork him there. When the oral exam alternative fell through, Bob decided to not take the job. The next day he had a massive heart attack and needed a quadruple bypass. The doctors told him the only reason he survived was that all that tennis had kept his one valve working better than most people’s all four combined. Thereafter, Bob always sad that “Tennis saved my life!”
With Josette’s encouragement, Bob retired from his 20-year civil servant career at only 42 years old. He later regretted it because the funds were not what they could have been and they went through it quickly. They bought the duplex at 3570 Crestmoor Drive in San Bruno. At the request of an 80-year-old neighbor, Bob began to work as a handyman and used his contractor’s license to work when he wanted. He often worked for friends and family, like building Linda’s apartments on Quintara. But he never charged a going rate because he did not fell he need the money to survive and felt guilty about “charging too much.” Some might have considered him a poor businessman, which would have been true if he were trying to establish a successful contracting business. But that was not his goal. He was just keeping busy and helping out.
In the late 1970s, Bob’s marriage began do suffer due to a combination of Josette’s job pressures at the Airport and her developing alcoholism. They divorced in February, 1981. Josette moved to Marin. She later entered a rehab center to try to get sober, but she died on July 8, 1988, of cancer. She was only 53 years old.
In 1975, Bob had helped build and open the Millbrae Tennis Club. This insured that he always had a place to play. Alone again after his divorce, he spent even more time there. Another member of the Club was Shelby Miller, and she definitely had her eye on Bob.
Shelby Miller had been born Shelby Warren on September 28, 1935, in San Francisco. She was the second child of Lewis Warren, a postal worker, and Esther Mizel. She grew up in her Mizel grandparents’ house at 138 Brussels Street in the Portola District, off of Silver and San Bruno Avenues. Later, she would move to 111 Everglades Drive, near Lakeshore Plaza. She attended Lowell High School and graduated in 1953. On December 24, 1954, she married Robert Miller. They lived on Geary in the outer Richmond initially, then they moved to Daly City. Shelby became a nurse and worked landed a job at Mount Zion Hospital. The Millers divorced in September of 1969, in San Mateo. She and Bob married on January 25, 1984, in Las Vegas, Clark County, Nevada. She moved into Bob’s house in San Bruno and they have been together ever since.
In 1987, Bob became a grandfather for the first time with the birth of Jordan, the first of his four grandsons. Jordan was joined by a brother Spenser (1992), and two cousins, Elliot (1993) and David (1995) Reynolds. Shelby also had two grown children and would have four grandchildren—one grandson named David and three granddaughters—whom Bob considered like his own grandchildren.
In 2000, Bob and Shelby sold his house in San Bruno and moved to Roseville. There they bought the house on Rosestone Court. Its backyard opened onto the fifth hole of the Sierra Pines Golf Course. Several other golf courses tennis clubs are nearby and Bob continued to play almost every day. In addition, several of the Omega Boys moved to Roseville at the same time.
Bob has had a life of highs and lows. He has had great success athletically. Though his career started out slowly, he had a successful career and earned the respect of coworkers and bosses alike. Despite a major health scare in midlife, he has had a long and active life and is still going at 89 years old. He has developed friendships that have lasted 75 years or more, but, because of the relationship with his own father, he has struggled with relationships with his immediate family. Like many of us, he has had to establish equilibrium for himself. Hopefully, he feels that he has driven down the middle of the fairway of life more often the average of hooks and slices.
Bob has had a life of highs and lows. He has had great success athletically. Though his career started out slowly, he had a successful career and earned the respect of coworkers and bosses alike. Despite a major health scare in midlife, he has had a long and active life and is still going at 89 years old. He has developed friendships that have lasted 75 years or more, but, because of the relationship with his own father, he has struggled with relationships with his immediate family. Like many of us, he has had to establish equilibrium for himself. Hopefully, he feels that he has driven down the middle of the fairway of life more often the average of hooks and slices.