Man of Charm, Grace, Clout Is Recalled

James Roosevelt was remembered by friends and colleagues Tuesday as a legendary figure who moved with equal ease among the rich, the powerful and others less fortunate.

“It’s the end of an era,” said Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, who counted Roosevelt among his closest friends. “There’s nobody out there who is quite like him.”

Riley and others described how Roosevelt, by virtue of his family and political work, had easy entree to the power elite in Sacramento and Washington.

He used his clout, said county transportation chief Stanley T. Oftelie, to help win approval of Orange County projects when other people from Orange County would not be greeted so warmly.

During one visit to the state Capitol in 1986, for example, lawmakers gave Roosevelt a standing ovation as he entered the visitors’ gallery.

Riley was one of many community leaders who praised Roosevelt on Tuesday for his commitment of time to many causes, including education, transportation and the arts.

Roosevelt lectured at local colleges, successfully lobbied for state and federal approval of Orange County’s planned toll roads as a transportation commissioner and advised the building campaign for the South Coast Repertory while serving on its board of trustees. Riley adjourned Tuesday’s board session in Roosevelt’s memory.

“While I have lost a dear friend and comrade,” Riley told the board, “the nation has lost a truly great statesman and patriot . . . All of us who knew him and loved him feel deep sorrow today at the news of his passing.”

He was also remembered as a lifelong Democrat who startled the Democratic Party two decades ago by helping to launch Democrats for Nixon, thus earning a place in the heart of Orange County’s conservative, Republican Establishment.

Roosevelt also supported Ronald Reagan, who was fascinated with FDR’s eldest son and often sought him out.

Orange County GOP Chairman Thomas A. Fuentes recalled on Tuesday that when Reagan arrived at a 1980 fund-raising event at the Stadium Club in Anaheim, he spotted Roosevelt on the opposite side of the huge throng.

“There’s Jimmy Roosevelt,” Reagan told Fuentes. “He’s the one I want to see.”

Roosevelt was also held in high regard at Chapman College, where he served as lecturer and trustee and helped found the Chapman Enterprise Institute.

“I just consider myself blessed for knowing him,” Chapman President James A. Doti said. “Just being close to him was being a part of history.”

Doti recalled that a 1988 dinner honoring Roosevelt raised thousands of dollars for student financial aid, the recipients of which are dubbed “Roosevelt Scholars.”

“He was an amazing figure,” Doti said. “He lectured in my classes several times. I will miss him.”

Roosevelt also lectured at UC Irvine, where his wife, Mary, is a member of the UC Irvine Foundation and supervisor of teacher education.

UCI Chancellor Jack W. Peltason described Roosevelt as a “close friend and a good friend of the university.”

“He was always interested and concerned,” Peltason said. “Along with Mary, he played a key role in introducing many prominent people to UC Irvine.”

“Roosevelt knew just about everybody in the world,” Peltason added. “He had such warmth. He was always anxious to help, and not just the rich and powerful, but the people without status.”

Oftelie, chief executive officer of the Orange County Transportation Authority, echoed those sentiments and recalled how Roosevelt held a thank-you party when his term as chairman of the Orange County Transportation Commission ended.

“He was extraordinarily gracious,” Oftelie said. “He hosted the entire staff--secretaries, interns and clerks--at the Balboa Bay Club. He wanted to thank them for all the kind things they had done for him.”

Even after his health had begun to fail, Roosevelt attended charity galas--always smiling, always managing to rise--sometimes from a wheelchair--to greet women guests.

“He was a wonderful, courageous man and he’ll be deeply and greatly missed,” said Athalie Clarke, mother of heiress Joan Irvine Smith.

“He was so very loving, generous, helpful, and cheerful--and above all, a devoted husband and father,” said Georgia Frontiere, owner and president of the Los Angeles Rams. Roosevelt was a member of the Rams Advisory Board.

“He loved life and lived it with great distinction. I can’t believe that he’s gone and that I’ll never see his smiling face again.”