Seymour Matthew Brody

It is with profound sadness, yet with a sense of celebration of a long fruitful life, that we note the passing of Seymour M. Brody, a longtime Petaluma resident who was dedicated to community service and was a legendary youth sports coach and mentor for half a century. He died in peace at the age of 94 on March 26 due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

He was born on Nov. 5, 1924 in the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia, after his parents and sister had earlier escaped the anti-Jewish pogroms in Russia. They eventually settled on a small Petaluma ranch in the late 1920s and raised chickens when the town was renowned as the “Egg Basket of the World”. He attended small, rural Wilson Elementary School (as did his children and grandchildren), Petaluma Junior High and graduated from Petaluma High School (where he was an honors student, member of several clubs and played on the basketball team) in 1942. He then attended the University of California at Berkeley.

The year 1946 proved to be momentous in his life when he was unknowingly introduced to an vivacious 18-year-old, Sue Wasserman, who happened to be visiting from the big city of Brooklyn, NY. Unbeknownst to him, his brother-in-law pretended to be Seymour when he called and set the two up on a date. She moved west the next year, and the big city girl meets country bumpkin resulted in a marriage of more than 71 years. They continued in chicken ranching until he worked various jobs while serving as a reserve officer with the Petaluma Police Department, as well as continuing his love of writing as a sports correspondent for the Petaluma Argus-Courier. He found his calling when his devoted interest in animals led to employment with the U.S. Department of Agriculture where he had a distinguished 39-year career. He began as a livestock inspector (earning a certificate of merit) and later was an animal health technician with the USDA’s Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service. He played an integral role in the department’s disease eradication program as a member of task forces sent throughout the nation whenever there was an animal disease outbreak. He also served for a time as the coordinator of the USDA’s Hispanic Education Program aimed at encouraging minorities to find jobs with the USDA. He spoke as a guest lecturer to ag departments at high schools throughout California.

Among his interests over the years were horseback riding, acting in community plays, reading, writing and, of course, his animals. He enjoyed adding animals to the Brody ranch that were unusual to the area, including Scottish Highland cattle, African pygmy goats, peacocks, Canadian Honker geese, Guinea hens, pheasants and Barbados sheep (he was one of the first breeders in Northern California).

It was sports in which he derived his greatest pleasure, particularly coaching the young people of his town. Affectionately known as “Coach”, he touched the lives of countless numbers of kids, imparting his wisdom not only on the finer points of baseball or basketball, but on life in general. Always for the underdog, he would especially focus on those who needed a boost of self-esteem. He would give his players special nicknames and acknowledge their efforts with ribbons or, if they were really lucky, candy. He coached youth baseball at all levels, from Little League to Joe DiMaggio League. He served as a manager, director and president of the Petaluma American Little League and was involved in bringing about the league’s then state of the art field at Lucchesi Park in the 1960s. Coach had a special fondness for St. Vincent High School where he was spirit/assistant coach for virtually all the athletic teams, on the sidelines or bench for three decades. He was elected to the school’s Hall of Fame in 1998. He also would occasionally fill in as a substitute teacher at the school, anything to help the students.

Included in the numerous organizations and clubs he actively participated in (often as president) were Petaluma Riding and Driving Club, Lions Club, Elks Club, Petaluma Boys & Girls Club, Petaluma Jewish Community Center, Big Brothers (mentoring kids in need), McDowell Drug Task Force (aimed at preventing drug use among youth), NARFE (retired federal employees), Sons In Retirement and Knights of Pythias.

Coach had an opinion on everything from sports (he was an avid fan of the Oakland A’s and Raiders) to politics to restaurants, and wouldn’t hesitate to let you know what it was. He took pride in his honesty (political correctness was not in his vocabulary) and you knew where you stood in his eyes. If he liked you, and he anointed you “top of the line”, you had a friend for life. He was a great storyteller, recounting tales of various life experiences that would leave the listener in side-splitting laughter. He had a sweet tooth like no other, savoring an ice cream sundae or nice piece of pie.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Pauline and Morris Brody, and his sister, Diane Dorfman. He is survived by his loving wife of 71 years, Sue Brody of Petaluma; sons Jeffrey Brody (daughter-in-law Ruth Brody) of Windsor and Martin Brody of Petaluma, and daughter Bonnie Hendrickson (son-in-law Jeff Hendrickson) of Texas; his grandchildren (who knew him as “Poppa”) Scott and Kyle Hendrickson of Texas and Ozell Bowman-Brody of Petaluma; nieces Cynthia Luce of Napa and Bobbie Wasserman of Los Angeles and nephew Steve Wasserman of Los Angeles. A special gratitude to Dr. Jim Leoni for his longtime care and friendship, and to Suzan Jones for her caring and help during the past several years.

Private family graveside services conducted by Parent-Sorensen Mortuary were held Monday at Cypress Hill Memorial Park. Donations may be made to a charity of your choice.