Roland Seidler Jr., 77; Founded L.A. Investment Firm
Roland Seidler Jr., founder of the Seidler Cos., a leading Los Angeles-based investment banking and financial services firm, has died. He was 77.
Seidler died Thursday at his home in Pasadena, according to a statement from the office of Peter O’Malley, Seidler’s brother-in-law and former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The cause of death was not announced.
In addition to his work in the financial community, Seidler served on the board of directors for the Dodgers from 1975 to 1998. He served as secretary from 1975-80, treasurer in 1981 and vice president-treasurer from 1982-98. The O’Malley family sold the team to Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Group in 1998.
“Rollie was not only my close friend and business associate, but a brother in every sense of the word,” O’Malley said in a statement about the man who was married to his sister Terry for 47 years. “As one of the most influential and dynamic leaders I have known, he made a tremendous impact on the Southern California business community.”
A native of Los Angeles, Seidler graduated from Loyola High School before earning his degree at UC Berkeley in 1952. He enlisted in the Army and was assigned to what is now the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, Calif. He also served in the Army Intelligence Corps in Stuttgart, Germany.
After his discharge, Seidler joined the investment firm Mitchum, Jones and Templeton in Los Angeles. In 1959, he opened the McDonnell and Co. branch office in L.A. He was a founding partner of Seidler, Arnett and Spillane, and was chairman and chief executive of the Seidler Cos., founded in 1969.
Over the years, Seidler gave his time to a number of educational and community institutions, including the Loyola Marymount University board of trustees, the UCLA Anderson School of Management, the advisory council for the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, the Los Angeles Archdiocesan Finance Council and Town Hall Los Angeles.
A rosary and funeral Mass will begin at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Therese Church, Alhambra. Private burial will be at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City.
Donations may be made to the Mayo Clinic, Diabetes Research, 9th Floor, Siebens Building, 200 1st St. SW, Rochester, MN 55905; the Catholic Education Foundation, 3424 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90010-2202; or the Bioethics Institute, Loyola Marymount University, 4515 University Hall, 1 LMU Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90045-2659.
