Lloyd L. Root

1919 - 2013

San Francisco native and Navy pilot Lloyd L. Root first and foremost always said "I've had a good life." And he did, right up until the last day of his final flight-at least on this plane-which was October 9, 2013. Born on December 26, 1919, Lloyd was raised in North Beach. Those were the days when there were so few automobiles that Basque boys (like Lloyd) and his assorted Italian, French, Mexican, Irish, Serbian and Greek neighbors and pals could play touch tackle football and "kick the can" in the middle of the streets. Then go climb the steep hills above Broadway to play "king of the mountain" on their way home for dinner.

Lloyd considered himself fortunate to be both a city boy and a country boy since he spent memorable summers in Grass Valley. Or he stayed at the 3,200-acre Sweetwater Ranch in Nevada owned by his Spanish Basque grandfather, Juan Francisco Yparraguirre and French Basque grandmother, Marie (Etchebarren) Yparraguirre. Sweetwater was both a sheep ranch-where 30,000 sheep did their part during WW I by providing wool for uniforms-and a hotel. With 26 rooms, a ballroom on the 2nd floor (where more games of tag and scooter riding than dancing occurred), a huge barn, a small smokehouse and even a post office, the Sweetwater Ranch provided young Lloyd and his cousin Jack with lifelong memories. There was always an endless string of gold miners, travelers and equipment salesmen en route from Carson City to the mines, plus plenty of quirky locals, ranch hands and Indians passing through on foot, on mules or in old jalopies. Then there was the persnickety Chinese cook who wielded his huge meat cleaver for dramatic effect as he chased mischievous lads like Lloyd and Jack out of the hotel kitchen while the bread was rising. . . in spite of all that running around.

During the Depression years, Lloyd attended Lowell and Galileo High School, and then went to work at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company where Navy destroyers were manufactured, before beginning his college education. He also did a short stint at McCann Erickson advertising as an office boy in the mailroom, but he didn't like wearing a suit to work! In the Fall of 1938, Lloyd attended UC Berkeley where he excelled in physics and civil engineering.

While he loved playing football at Cal, he did not relish their requirement of service in the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC). In the summer of 1941, he traveled up to Nome, Alaska to work at his father's mining operation, the American Creek Dredging Company, earning enough money to finish college, but world events intervened. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Lloyd joined the Navy. He was stationed at the Naval Bases at Mare Island and Shoemaker, where he served on the football team with distinction. From there he went to Navy flight schools, including Prescott, Arizona where he learned to fly bi-wings (his favorites). He earned his wings graduating as a Navy Aviator from Pensacola, Florida.

After completing military service, Lloyd obtained a degree in Mining Engineering at University of Nevada, Reno, and later his MBA from Cal. He went on to develop a long, successful career in the printing industry, beginning at Crown Zellerbach and finally running his own Bay Area firm, Crown Resources. Recognized as an innovative leader in his field, he traveled the world in the course of his business endeavors. Later he enjoyed flying, traveling and biking through many foreign locales with his lovely wife Diane, who was his best friend, his wing-woman and co-pilot (both literally and figuratively; she's a pilot in her own right). "We have enjoyed life together continuously for over 36 years," he said, "and the love just grows and grows! What a wonderful life we have had. Unbelievable. . . But we made it happen."

Lloyd Root always told it like it was. In fact, "TELLING IT LIKE IT WAS: My First Quarter Century" was the title of the book he and Diane spent 5 years working on together (first edition published in 2009, second in 2010). Much credit for the life he enjoyed, he attributed to the strong family bonds and values in his close-knit Basque family during his childhood years. His highly accomplished, loving father Lloyd Root, Sr., ran silver mines in Mexico before Lloyd was born, and went on to become State Mineralogist for the State of California. His office was on the 2nd floor of the Ferry Building, across the street from where Lloyd and Diane Root have lived for over three decades.

Lloyd's talented, lovely mother, Elvira, was a gifted pianist who played professionally throughout her life (including the Depression years). She was a central influence in his life, together with Lloyd's spirited grandmother Marie Yparraguirre, who was a force of nature. In fact, his Nana Marie was the reason he considered himself to have had the benefit of a Basque upbringing, even though he was a California native. At the age of 21, Marie left her small village in France for California a few years after Lloyd's grandfather, Juan Francisco set sail from Spain. An adventurous 20 year old, he was put in charge of a herd of breeding bulls on the ship en route to central California. Once there, he worked as a sheepherder until he earned enough money to buy his own Basque hotel, the Hotel Vasco, in San Francisco. When both the hotel and the family's Victorian house in North Beach were destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake and fires, Juan Francisco relocated the family to Nevada to run the Sweetwater Ranch.

Lloyd Root lived a long and illustrious life, characterized by his joie de vivre, pride in his family roots and heritage, and strong bonds of affection for his friends and those who worked with him over the years. But most of all, his life was defined by his undying love and devotion to Diane during their life journey together.

Lloyd Root was a man among men, a true gentleman in every sense of the word. He may be gone from our sight, but not from our hearts. Though this marks the end of an era-he had a most memorable 93 and three quarters years-he will never be forgotten. They just don't make them like Lloyd Root anymore.