Robert Pauley, 60; Businessman Once Ran for State Senate Seat

Robert “Buzz” Pauley, a leading Sonoma County businessman who once ran for a state Senate seat in Southern California, has died. He was 60.

Pauley was killed Feb. 18 in a single vehicle crash in Glen Ellen, near his home in the Kenwood area of Northern California. Pauley suffered major head injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A native of Los Angeles, Pauley was the son of Edwin W. Pauley, a prominent oilman and longtime University of California regent for whom UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion is named.

Robert Pauley grew up in Beverly Hills and graduated from UC Santa Barbara. From 1969 to 1970, he worked as an aide in Washington, D.C., to Robert Finch, secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.

On his return to Southern California, Pauley ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees. He later moved to Hawthorne and lost in his effort to unseat state Sen. Ralph Dills (D-Gardena) in the 28th District.

Pauley relocated to the Santa Rosa area in 1982 and focused his energies on business and community projects.

He was one of the founders of Sonoma National Bank and served as a director from the bank’s opening in 1985. He also founded Pauley Liquid Exports, a company that exported wines to the Far East in the 1980s and 1990s.

Active in various causes, Pauley was on the board of the Pacific Oaks College and Children’s School in Pasadena. He was also the founding director of the California Children’s Lobby, an advocacy group for child safety issues.

Pauley is survived by a son, Matthew, of Westwood; a daughter, Tasha Baum, also of Westwood; a stepdaughter, Courtney L. King, of Manhattan Beach; a sister, Susan Pauley French, of Santa Barbara; a brother, Stephen Pauley, of Sun Valley, Idaho; and two grandchildren.

A memorial service is planned for Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Paradise Ridge Winery in Santa Rosa.

Instead of flowers, the family suggests donations to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Sonoma County, 5685 Redwood Drive, Rohnert Park, CA 94928.