Guy Terry Saperstein

1943 - 2025

Guy Terry Saperstein
06/20/1943 - 10/28/2025
Guy Terry Saperstein (06/20/1943 - 10/28/2025), 82, renowned civil rights attorney, environmental activist, and philanthropist, died on October 28th in Seattle, Washington, with his family nearby. He passed away after watching 13 innings of the 18-inning Game #3 of the World Series, a fitting final moment for a longtime co-owner of the Athletics baseball team.
Guy is survived by his wife of 57 years, Jeanine, whom he met in 1967, while picketing in Los Angeles for a demonstration he organized for the Welfare Rights Organization. He is also survived by his son Leon, daughter-in-law Sunny (Rui Jun), and grandson Westlee; son Jacobus, daughter-in-law Alison, and grandson Salix; daughter Unmi, son-in-law Roger, and granddaughter Coco; sister Tina and her husband Tom; nieces Kelli and Deborah and nephew Gary Jr; brothers-in-law Gary and Michael, and his best friend Geoff.
Guy grew up in a low-income family in North Hollywood. The nephew of Abe Saperstein, founder of the Harlem Globetrotters, he served as their ball boy when the team visited Los Angeles.
After graduating in 1961 from North Hollywood High School, Guy attended the University of California at Berkeley and then the Boalt Hall School of Law. He became an anti-war activist during his years at UC Berkeley. After university graduation, he took a two year fellowship representing migrant farmworkers in Colorado.
Back in the Bay Area, on March 2,1972, the very day his first son was born, he co-founded what became the largest private plaintiff civil rights law firm in American history, growing from two people to 165 employees. The firm successfully prosecuted the largest sex, race, age, and disability employment discrimination class action cases in America. For six years, Guy was included in the National Law Journal's list of "The 100 Most Influential Attorneys in America," the only private civil rights attorney ever so honored.
Guy retired at 51 to spend more time with family, backpacking, kayaking, trekking, and international travel. He wrote three books, produced a feature film, served on Nancy Pelosi's Democratic National Security Policy Group, founded The New Ideas Fund think tank, co-founded Patriotic Millionaires for Fiscal Strength, and served on many environmental and other boards.
Guy poured his energy into improving everything around him: his relationships, his neighborhood, his community, his country. We have been so lucky to be in love for 58 years.
In 2021, Guy and Jeanine moved to Paris with half their family. After surviving three strokes, open heart surgery, and three bouts of sepsis, his family nicknamed him The Comeback Kid. He recently returned to the U.S., to Seattle to be near his son Jacobus. Guy left his heart in Paris but carried his fighting spirit until he was ready for this last final journey.