Geoffrey Burroughs

Geoffrey Burroughs, age 89, passed away peacefully on March 25, 2026.

Geoffrey was born on August 15, 1936, in Sacramento, California, where he lived most of his life. At age 19, he married his high school sweetheart, Mollie (née Arnold). Mollie and Geoff were married for nearly 70 years and had three children, Lisa Burroughs, Spencer Burroughs, and Megan Rainey (John).

After graduating from C.K. McClatchy High School in 1954, Geoff volunteered for the army, beginning as a private. Then he attended Officer Candidate School, and, at 19 years of age, became the youngest second lieutenant serving in the Army. Geoff served in Germany (1956 - 1957) and left the army as a first lieutenant.

Upon returning to the United States, Geoff attended California State University, Sacramento before enrolling in night school at McGeorge Law School. He would follow a long line of lawyers and judges in the Burroughs family, and upon graduation from McGeorge and passing the bar, he joined the Sacramento District Attorney's Office. A hard worker and talented attorney, Geoff was also a director at the Aquarian Effort and at the Legal Aid Society. In 1972, he became Sacramento's Chief Deputy District Attorney. After a 20-year tenure at the DA's office, he joined the private practice of Weintraub Genshlea Giannoni & Sproul (now Weintraub Tobin). He retired from the firm in 1999 but continued to teach part-time at McGeorge Law School.

Geoffrey, however, was about more than work, as was even more evident after his retirement. Once he figured out how to manage a calendar sans secretarial support, Geoff's days were scheduled with lunches, tennis games, teaching World War II courses via the at CSU Sacramento Renaissance Society, gardening, and writing. He wrote poetry, short stories, and two books—one historical fiction novel (Destiny Answers) and one fictional novel (More).

Geoffrey also thoroughly enjoyed his friends, hosting Christmas parties, playing cards (during which participants learned to ignore the expletives), watching football games, vacationing in Santa Cruz, and playing horseshoes on the beach.

Throughout his life, Geoff demonstrated his commitment to family. He enthusiastically embraced his children's love for the Rolling Stones—going to concerts with them, and, later with his grandchildren. Family dinners were important to Geoffrey, and no one was too young to participate in the conversation—a practice he had learned at his parents' dinner table. He attended his granddaughters' sports games and theater/dance performances, and he loved a party. He enjoyed dancing, especially if he could wear his white seersucker suit, white leather shoes, and twirl a beautiful granddaughter.

Perhaps his greatest passion was spending time with his wife, Mollie. Over decades of marriage, his eyes always lit up for "Miss Mollie." He adored her beauty, intelligence, and pragmatic nature. In their later years, he was her eyes and she was his ears. He read to her almost daily—describing the pictures as well as reading the text of favorite cartoon strips, diving into potboiler novels, and reading more serious literature.

Remaining to cherish Geoff's memory are his three children, five granddaughters—Sara Burroughs, Jessica Dosev (Nikola), Brienna Cowan (Marc), Keely Hernandez (Ramon), Ann Rainey-Ruiz (Adam)—and 6 great-grandchildren. Geoff is preceded in death by his wife Mollie, his parents, Olga (Wemple) and Spencer Burroughs, and his siblings, Spencer, Brooke (Olga) Van Zandt, and Trent.

Family and friends are invited to attend a celebration of life gathering on Saturday, May 16, 2026; 11:00 am - 2:00 pm at the Sheraton Grand Hotel located at 1230 J Street, Sacramento, CA. Please reach out to Megan Rainey at 916-502-2216 or [email protected] with questions or to RSVP. No flowers, please.