Donald Rees

1935 - 2022

Donald Rees
December 3, 1935 - July 17, 2022
Donald Wayne Rees, a resident of Sherman Oaks, California, passed away on July 17, 2022.
Don was born on December 3, 1935, in Indianapolis, Indiana. His parents were Lasca Eulalia Lydia Miller, a nurse (deceased in 1983), and Russel Clifford Rees, a physician (deceased in 1992).
Don attended Hamilton Elementary School in Indianapolis from 1st to 4th grade and George W. Julian Intermediate School from 5th to 8th grade. He graduated from Howe High School, where he was on the varsity football and basketball teams. In basketball, he was named All-City and he played against a future member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, Oscar Robertson.
After high school, Don attended Indiana University, where he majored in accounting and was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. He played on the freshman basketball team and was a member of ROTC.
Following his graduation from Indiana in 1958, he served in the Army. In 1960, he enrolled in Stanford Law School. After graduating in 1962, he practiced law in Los Angeles for four years. He later joined a San Francisco-based firm, which became Fields Gordon & Rees.
In October 1974, Don and his partner, Stuart Gordon, launched Gordon & Rees in San Francisco. Don's primary practice was fidelity and surety law representing many of the leading insurers and reinsurers doing business in the United States. Don received a number of honors including an AV-Preeminent rating from Martindale-Hubbell, Super Lawyers® distinction in the field of Insurance, and Best Lawyers in America® distinction in Insurance Law.
The firm grew steadily through the years and opened a San Diego office in 1990. Today, Gordon & Rees is home to more than 1,100 attorneys, has 74 offices in all 50 states, and is the 24th largest law firm in the country.
While in law school, Don met Marilyn Moyle and they were married in 1964. They lived in Los Angeles until 1967, at which time they moved to Berkeley. Their son, Matthew, was born in May 1968 and is now a resident of McLean, Virginia, where lives with his wife, Nina, and their daughter, Sophia, 17. Matt's sister, Johanna, was born in November 1969 and is now a resident of Studio City, California, where she lives with her husband, Ralph, and their daughter, Suli, 9.
The Rees family moved to Lafayette, California in 1973. Don coached Matt in youth basketball, led Johanna in YMCA father/daughter groups, and later cherished spending time with his granddaughters Sophia and Suli. In retirement, he also enjoyed educational travel and took several Stanford University-sponsored trips to Europe.
He was a devoted sports fan and followed the Indiana Hoosiers and the Stanford Cardinal with particular interest. He fondly recalled attending sporting events, including Major League Baseball's All-Star Game, the Final Four, the Super Bowl, the Kentucky Derby, and the Indianapolis 500. His final sports outing was a 2019 football game with Matt between Cal and Ole Miss, in Oxford, Mississippi.
He also enjoyed attending concerts, particularly at the Hollywood Bowl and Disney Hall, where his daughter has booked shows since 2000. A long-time fan of the band Styx, a special memory for Don was seeing the band play in San Diego in 2003, along with Journey and REO Speedwagon.
A celebration of life is scheduled for mid-August in Northern California.