Herbert Cheyette

1928 - 2012

Herbert Cheyette, 83, of La Jolla, passed away on October 2, 2012, at Scripps Memorial Hospital after a valiant struggle with cancer, complicated by Parkinson's disease.
Herb was born in New York, NY, on October 5, 1928, and spent the majority of his childhood in New York and Pennsylvania. He attended Haverford College and Yale University Drama School and Law School, interrupted by two years of service in the United States Army stationed in Germany. Herb and his wife, Marie-Louise, raised three sons in Manhasset, NY, where they lived until moving to La Jolla in 2006.
In his 54-year career as an intellectual property attorney and artist representative, Herb became a recognized expert in the field. He started his career at Sam Fox Music Publishing Company, moved on to CBS and then to Capitol Records. In the mid-70s he joined the Manhattan-based firm, International Creative Management (ICM). Over the years Herb handled many well-known artists, writers and celebrities, one of whom was Ted Geisel. Because of his many trips to La Jolla in the course of representing Dr. Seuss Enterprises Herb decided to semi-retire here, continuing that relationship until he was hospitalized just a few weeks ago.
Herb was known as a gifted raconteur with an amazing breadth of knowledge and retention of facts in areas as diverse as baseball and opera. One could invariably count on Herb to come up with that piece of trivia which escaped everyone else's memory. He was the veritable definition of a gentleman and a scholar. At the top of everyone's guest list, he would consistently regale his friends with incredible yet true tales of his experiences with the literati and some lesser known but no less humorous acquaintances.
Our gatherings won't be the same without Herb. The void will be painfully evident. Herbert Cheyette will be greatly missed.
Herb is survived by his wife, Marie-Louise; brother, Fred Cheyette of Amherst, MA; son, Philippe Cheyette of Norwalk, CT; son and daughter-in-law, Drs. Benjamin and Sarah Cheyette of Burlingame, CA; son and daughter-in-law, Daniel and Rachel Cheyette of Palmer, AK; and six grandchildren, Madeleine, Natalie, Jonah, Jacqueline, Anja and Zachary.
A funeral is being held in New York and a Celebration of Herb's Life will be held in La Jolla at a future date.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests charitable donations be made in Herb's name to either his alma mater, Haverford College (www.haverford.edu/giving/) to which he was deeply devoted, or First Book, a non-profit that provides books to children in need (www.firstbook.org ).