Harry H. Kahn

Harry H. Kahn December 1, 1943 - July 5, 2008 Retired General Counsel, San Francisco Based ABM Industries Born in Chicago Dec. 1, 1943. After his father's premature death at age 40, Harry's mother brought him to Southern CA in 1953. Harry was not happy about leaving his soda jerk/drug store messenger boy job in Chicago, but soon found new employment selling newspapers in front of the Wiltern Theatre at the corner of Wilshire and Western Blvds in LA. He and his mother eventually moved to suburban Gardena, where Harry acquired the name of "Happy Harry," and graduated from Gardena High in Jan. of '61. Harry struck out on his own after graduation, attending El Camino Jr. College while working full time for aerospace giant TRW Systems as a systems engineer. He was proud of working on the early space programs. Executives at TRW recognized Harry's intelligence and potential, and offered to pay his tuition at USC, where he completed his undergraduate degree at night, continuing to work fulltime at TRW. He graduated USC Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa in 1966. USC discontinued its night law school program, so Harry headed north to the Bay Area to attend the Boalt Hall School of Law at UC, Berkeley. At Boalt he was awarded the Dinkelspiel Award and was president of the Phi Delta Phi law school fraternity. While there, he supported himself with a variety of jobs ranging from bartending at the famed Steppenwolf (birthplace of the Magic Theatre and recreational haunt of the original Black Panthers) to serving as a financial analyst for Paramount Studios in Los Angeles during the summer, Berkeley in the 60s gave Harry the youth that he had not enjoyed while working through his teenage years. Harry arrived in Berkeley as a conservative aerospace guy. Soon the side burns grew in, and ultimately Harry sported shoulder-length hair. He involved himself in the anti-Vietnam War movement, and was proud to have just missed being shot by the "Blue Meanies" of the Oakland Police, and being tear-gassed by Governor Reagan's National Guard Troops. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Boalt Hall in 1969. That same year, he also married a Berkeley student, Candace Zander, whom he had met in 1968. He returned to Southern CA briefly to practice law, but Candace soon persuaded him to give Northern CA one more chance (he didn't like driving the hills in his MGB.) This time the charms of San Francisco won out and Harry made it his home. 1909 was an important date for Harry: It was the year that his Russian Hill home was built, and the year that ABM Industries, the company where he worked for 30 years was founded in San Francisco. He was hired at ABM in 1972 as a legal counsel for the NYSE company. First however, he had to "sell out" and cut the long hair to get the job. In additional to his legal counsel duties, he was later named vice president for risk management. In 1987 he was named general counsel, and corporate secretary, positions that he held until ill health caused him to retire in 2002. Throughout his tenure at ABM, Harry did pro bono work for organizations such as SF Lawyers for the Arts. He served for over 25 years on the Insurance Committee of the CA State Bar. In addition, he was a true mentor to the young lawyers who he employed at ABM. Harry suffered a life threatening illness in 1979, He would never forget the support that all levels of ABM employees gave him during that time. They literally gave him their blood, a great tribute. Living in an Edwardian building prompted Harry and his wife to become involved in the architectural preservation movement in SF. During those early years, they extended that interest to the North Coast Bay Area Style. Simultaneously, the opera bug bit them. They were donors and full season subscribers of SF Opera, 1975-2000, and members of its Medallion Society from its inception to 2000. In 1990 Harry and his wife built their second home on the North Coast of California at The Sea Ranch. Harry put his heart and wonderful design sense into building the house. His avant-garde design for its beautiful marble master bath was honored by its inclusion in a Sunset Magazine bathroom design book. The whole interior of the house is Harry's design masterpiece. From the time of his marriage Harry and his wife traveled widely. Sometimes their travel focused on the major summer opera festivals of Europe or attendance of performances in the opera houses of Europe's capital cities. Sometimes their travel focused on scuba diving from the from the Caribbean Sea on the East to Fiji on the West. Harry passed away at CA Pacific Medical Center of cardio-vascular disease related to long term diabetes. His wife was holding his palm in her hand, with her cheek resting on the back of his hand. They were joined together in the end, as they had always been since 1968. There will be a Barbary Coast Plaque placed in the streets of San Francisco bearing his name. A private celebration of his life is being planned. Those wishing may make donations in his memory to: Class of '69 Alumni Center, The Boalt Hall School of Law, Univ. of California at Berkeley, 2000 Center St. Ste #400, Berkeley, CA 9470.