Ralph Fertig Obituary

Name: Memorial service for Ralph Fertig
Start: 2019-04-07T20:00:00.000Z
Location: Leo Baeck Temple

March 28, 2019 Civil Rights activist, Ralph Fertig, passed away March 28, 2019 A public memorial service will be held in his memory Sunday April 7, 2019 at 1pm Leo Baeck Temple 1300 N. Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90049 All are welcome

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Published by Los Angeles Times on Apr. 2, 2019.

Memories and Condolences
for Ralph Fertig

4 Entries

Edward Henson

April 6, 2019

Ralph you were a warrior for justice a mentor a teacher but above all you were a compassionate human being. Who believed that one person can make a difference. Forever rest in peace brother

VIJAY PANJWANI

April 6, 2019

STRANGER AND A FRIEND---REMEMBERING RALPH DAVID FERTIG.
By Vijay Panjwani Advocate Supreme Court India.
New Delhi, India. 6th April, 2019. Ralph was energy personified. Tall, slim, curly hair, prominent hooked nose, eyes always saying something, big teeth, average size ears, ready smile, big strong hands, quick in his movements, definitely not slow or lazy. Used the swimming pool every morning in a neighborhood motel. Was proud of his struggle, his education, his achievements, his wife, his future plans, his children and their families.
In his 2001 published a book titled Love and Liberation. Ralph wrote I grew up in Chicago, in a household cluttered with shattered people struggling to reconcile the roots they had romanticized with the mordant reality they fled. This book began with my search to understand my heritage and their turmoil.
Contrast his childhood to mine. Born and educated in Bhopal, India. Schooled in a roman catholic convent school namely St Josephs Convent. All my degrees from a Shia managed Trust, Saifia College, Bhopal affiliated to Bhopal University. Grew up in a fairly big house with six rooms and two bathrooms and a large open to sky terrace, opposite Indias biggest mosque, Tajul Masajid. Home was always buzzing with activity, my parents, younger brother, two sisters. Three or four servants doing their duty without any fuss. Chauffer was Christian and others muslims. My Hindu parents were displaced or booted out by muslims from Sindh in August 1947 partition even as India gained independence under Gandhi-Nehru leadership. Parents were tough persons, they reconciled, learnt Hindi language, settled in a muslim majority State of Bhopal bang in the centre of India.
Unlike Hiroshima and Nagasaki there was no big bang. The Bhopal factory owned and managed by US company Union Carbide in the middle of the night silently and slowly discharged MIC gas from the chimneys. The lethal MIC toxic gas spread all-over the city killing by suffocation more than 3500 and injuring about 300,000 persons.
Early morning at 4 AM , a couple of days after the disaster, came a delegation of American attorneys including Attorney Ralph Fertig at the gate of my house in Golf Links, New Delhi. It was the month of December very dark and cold and smogy. We went to Delhi International Airport and from there to Bhopal by Indian Airlines.
Day 1 in Bhopal, we started to work, site visit, interviews with victims, discussion with local politicians. But could not meet anyone from the Carbide management. We got to know each other as we worked on the draft plaint based on the oral evidence and hospital prescriptions collected during the day.
Day 2 in Bhopal we started early to meet several people connected with the relief to disaster victims. Our 2 car convoy was moving towards my ancestral home, Ralph and I were in the first car. I asked the driver to stop in front of the house, and Ralph jumped out. The big mosque opposite the house in an uncluttered , tree lined wide road, clean neighborhood made him curious. That night after dinner Ralph and I sat for many hours as I told him about my grandfather, father, mother, Sindh, the partition of India on the basis of religion, despite best efforts to avoid it by Gandhi by now known as Father of the nation. And how my father was back in a muslim majority state after fleeing from Larkana, Sindh. Ralph told his story of growing up, about the great universities in big cities he had the opportunity to study and teach. There was a lot of similiarity. We were both looking for our roots. This roots business is all in the mind. I do not think in Ralphs case there was a closure. He was emotionally attached to Israel and the jewish community. And yet his readiness to help suffering people of all races and color was admirable. We worked together in many cases including the first case of Randy Martin in 1986-87. He appreciated my approach to get Martin relief, release on bail, compensation from the hotel for wrongful detention and beating, and exposing the barbaric role of LAPD. Ralph Fertig was no ordinary man. The assassination of Robert Bob Kennedy shocked him as he was closely associated with his Presidential campaign. This influenced his decision to move out of Washington DC to Los Angeles. To me he was an elder brother, a guide in law, companion in our quest for social justice and our own respective roots. Ralph Fertig was an outstanding, elegant dancer, equally good at Salsa and the Square dance and the Ballroom. The few times I accompanied him to parties he had no difficulty in finding a partner to dance with. I shall always cherish the words he spoke, the concern for the weak, the lets do something for them spirit.
What do we do with Ralphs legacy. To work within the four corners of the law. To uphold democratic values. To shun violence. To follow the path of passive resistance shown by Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Ralphs ideas and style of work would live many more years.
[Vijay Panjwani, 67 is an advocate at the Supreme Court of India. He specializes in industrial pollution and municipal environment issues. He resides in New Delhi. Email: [email protected]].
ennedy shocked him as he was closely associated with his Presidential campaign. This influenced his decision to move out of Washington DC to Los Angeles. To me he was an elder brother, a guide in law, companion in our quest for social justice and our own respective roots. Ralph Fertig was an outstanding, elegant dancer, equally good at Salsa and the Square dance and the Ballroom. The few times I accompanied him to parties he had no difficulty in finding a partner to dance with. I shall always cherish the words he spoke, the concern for the weak, the lets do something for them spirit.
What do we do with Ralphs legacy. To work within the four corners of the law. To uphold democratic values. To shun violence. To follow the path of passive resistance shown by Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Ralphs ideas and style of work would live many more years.
[Vijay Panjwani, 67 is an advocate at the Supreme Court of India. He specializes in industrial pollution and municipal environment issues. He resides in New Delhi. Email: [email protected]].

Heather Halperin

April 4, 2019

Oh Ralph you added so much to our lives at USC Social Work. Your humanity, the depth of your life experiences, commitment to social activism, vastly knowledgeable, good humored, the epitome of a truly great human being and a great dance, I will miss you presence on this earth.

Nick Holt

April 4, 2019

One of the pleasures of my life was to give Ralph rides to USC while I was a student.

His grace and kindness was manifest in so many ways, but most readily and amusingly by his refusal to take the front seat and instead volunteering to sit in the extended cab of my small pickup truck.

To hear a lifetime of wisdom, grace and passion in 30 minutes of shared space was one of the greatest gifts the universe has given me.

My love, respect and honor to him, his family and all who loved him.

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