Michael Fallon

Michael in his 90th year died peacefully on March 6. He was surrounded by his much-loved family; wife of 52 years, Rosalind Fallon, daughter Moira (Eric) and sons Shane (Gill) and Barry (Margo). He was the proud grandfather of seven: Cuan, Ronan, Cameron, Lilly, Ashlynn, Eva, and Sonoma. Born in San Mateo, the elder son of the late Thomas and Nellie Fallon, predeceased by his brother Tom. He was a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean conflict. He was a lifelong learner, taking Renaissance Society classes at CSUS, as well as participating in a weekly New Yorker discussion group. Mike received his B.A. in English from UC Berkeley and his Masters in Journalism from Columbia University. He was also a Doctoral candidate at La Sorbonne, Paris in 1955. His childhood dream was to become a journalist. At age 16, he began writing for the Daily Cal at UC Berkeley, the student newspaper, and became their editor during his senior year. As a professional journalist, Mike participated in the rise and fall of printed journalism. He made the ominous proclamation of having written for no less than seven now defunct newspapers. Mike started his journalism career at United Press International at the Sacramento bureau. He worked on the Latin American desk in New York before being assigned as Latin American News Manager in Buenos Aires, 1962-1964. In 1965, as a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner, he was credited with coining the word "hippie". The majority of his journalistic career was spent as Education Writer for the former Sacramento Union, where he was the dean of the California education press corps. Mike lived life to the fullest, with kindness and compassion for all. He will be remembered for his sharp wit and bellowing laugh. He will be greatly missed. Funeral Mass at Immaculate Conception (3263 First Avenue, Sacramento) on Tuesday March 10 at 11am. Donation, if desired, in lieu of flowers to the Immaculate Conception Building Fund - https://immaculateconceptionsacramento.org/ automatic-contributions