Irvin Roth

1920 - 2016

Irvin Melbourne Roth

March 21, 1920 - April 19, 2016

Irvin Melbourne Roth was born on March 21, 1920 in Pueblo, Colorado, the son of David and Nettie (Rosenthal) Roth. In 1923, the family moved to San Francisco and Irvin grew up in the Richmond District with his younger sister Bernice. He went to Cabrillo Elementary School, Presidio Junior High School and Lowell High School. After graduating from high school in 1937, he briefly attended San Francisco State College, then went to work at Peerless Curtain Mills, owned by his uncles Bill and Al Rosenthal, earning $5 a day as a curtain cutter. On Opening Day of the Golden Gate Bridge, Irvin was in the first public car to cross the new span. He and his friends promptly turned their Plymouth around and became the first to make a round trip on the bridge.
In 1940, believing the United States would soon enter the Second World War, he joined the California National Guard. "I wanted to go into combat because I wanted to erase the misconception that all the Jewish men were in … supply and I wanted to be sure I was in combat as an infantry officer," he later explained. Irvin entered the United States Army when his regiment was federalized in 1941. By September 1944, when his unit landed in France, he had been promoted to Captain and was in command of Company I, 114th Regiment, of the 44th Infantry Division. From November 1944 to April 1945, Irvin led his company in almost continual combat and through personal heroism earned a Silver Star with Oak Leaf Cluster and a Bronze Star, and was awarded two Purple Hearts for wounds in action. In 2011, Irvin was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the French government in recognition of his role in liberating France. Due to his combat experience, he was a man of peace and was fond of saying "there's no such thing as a good war or a bad peace."
After VE Day, the division was assigned to the planned invasion of Japan, and was moved to England. On weekend leave in London in June 1945, he met Maureen Aarons, a native of London, England, who was working for the American Red Cross. They enjoyed one date before he shipped off again, but maintained a correspondence when he returned to the States, and eventually she agreed to join him in America.
Irvin enrolled in Occidental College in Los Angeles on the G.I. Bill, and while still a student married Maureen at San Francisco's Fairmont Hotel on June 13, 1948. After active duty during the Korean War, Irvin entered a Doctorate Program in History at Stanford University. While there, his three sons were born, David in 1953, Jonathan in 1955 and Andrew in 1958. After receiving his Ph.D., Irvin taught for one year in Longview Washington, before being hired as one of the first faculty at the new Foothill Community College in Los Altos Hills. Irvin and Maureen purchased a home in Sunnyvale, near Cupertino Junior High and Homestead High School, which the boys attended.
Irvin taught at Foothill and at Cupertino's De Anza College, which he helped to organize, for his entire career, ultimately serving as Dean of the Business and Social Sciences Division. He played a key role in organizing the Foothill Faculty Association and acted as its chief negotiator for some time. Until his retirement from the Army Reserve in 1965 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, he also taught at the Sixth Army Intelligence School in Monterey. Irvin's talent for teaching and his concern for his students were legendary. He helped countless students find their way in life and gave them the skills, and encouragement, necessary for success. He considered this his greatest achievement.
Irvin and Maureen were early members of Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, where all three boys were Bar Mitzvoth. Though he had a great attachment to Jewish culture and history, he was also critical of the strictures and intolerances of organized religion. He was a baseball fan, first of the San Francisco Seals and then of the Giants; Irvin was also an avid collector of British Imperial stamps and of books, especially on World War One. He helped organize and was president of the local chapter of the Western Front Association, now the World War One Historical Association. A lifelong liberal and Democrat, Irvin's first presidential vote was for Franklin D. Roosevelt, and his last for Barack Obama. He was a man of principle and honesty.
Declining health led Irvin and Maureen to leave the house in Sunnyvale, first for Bridgepoint Assisted Living in Los Altos, and ultimately to Sunrise of Burlingame where he passed away peacefully on the evening of April 19. He maintained very close and warm relationships with his large extended family, including the Rosenthals, Roths, Abrams, Mestels, Himmelsteins, Adagios, Rodmans, and Oppenheims, among many others.
Irvin is survived by his wife of 68 years, Maureen, his three sons and their wives, David and Mary; Jonathan and Susan Heidenreich; and Andrew and Anni Klose; and granddaughters Ella and Tessa Roth. The family wishes to thank the caregivers at Bridgepoint, Sunrise, and Sutter Health Hospice for their kindness and dedication. As an expression of sympathy, donations may be sent to Taglit – Birthright Israel, which provides trips to Israel to strengthen young peoples' Jewish identity.