COMMUNITY SERVICE
A MAN WHO LOVED DAVIS … as I read in Sunday’s paper the many wonderful tributes to Jerry Kaneko from friends and colleagues for his well-lived life, I realized I was one of the lucky folks in town who knew Jerry long ago as a friend and neighbor and university professor, years before he became a Davis City Councilman … Jerry, who died last Friday at the age of 88 after suffering a massive stroke in Berkeley, was a civic-minded man long before he decided to run for public office …
According to former Davis Mayor Dave Rosenberg, now a Superior Court judge, Jerry’s home “was a regular venue for Democratic Party fundraisers and events. He was, in many ways, the grandfather of Democratic politics in Davis. Jerry was vibrant, active and engaged until the very end.” … Rosenberg also noted that “whenever I saw Jerry coming, I always looked for a table or other surface so I could put down any drink or plate I was carrying. Jerry’s greeting was invariably exuberant and I didn’t want to spill anything.” … my experience exactly …
The thing I always liked about Jerry during his years on the Davis City Council, besides his always kindly demeanor, was the fact he seemed not to be agenda-driven … he didn’t have some grand plan he wished to enforce on the public, other than to make Davis a better place to live for all of us … as a result, he was always a calm and reasoned voice on the council, asking hard questions about the issues of the day and not being satisfied until he got answers … you truly couldn’t predict which way he was going to vote until all the questioning was done …
He was a man who deeply loved this town and deeply loved his family and he did his level best to put true meaning to the words “public servant.” … I don’t think there’s much more we can ask of anyone in this life … his legacy is such that even people who never met Jerry Kaneko were nevertheless greatly enriched by his tireless efforts to serve this town … we were lucky to have had him in our midst for so many fruitful years …
Bob Dunning
January 22, 2013
The Wary I
The Davis Enterprise
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