Rotea J. Gilford

b. 20 November 1927, d. 14 March 1998
  • Rotea J. Gilford was born on 20 November 1927 in Willis, Montgomery County, Texas.
  • He enlisted as a private in the US Army for the Panama Canal Department on 6 March 1946, in San Francisco County, California.
  • Rotea J. Gilford died on 14 March 1998 at age 70 in San Francisco, California, at Hayes Valley.
  • The following appeared on 17 March 1998 in the San Francisco Chronicle: A ''celebration of life'' memorial service will be conducted tomorrow for Rotea Gilford, a forceful advocate for black youth who worked in four San Francisco mayors' administrations.
         Mr. Gilford, who in 1964 be came the first black inspector in the San Francisco Police Department, died at his home in the city's Hayes Valley on Saturday of complications stemming from diabetes. He was 70.
         His death inspired many in the city's top political ranks to recall how he served as a role model for many blacks and how deeply he cared about helping youth in trouble.
         Born in Willis, Texas, Mr. Gilford moved to San Francisco with his family when he was a boy. He grew up in the Fillmore district, graduating from Polytechnic High School.
         He attended San Francisco City College, where he played on the championship football team in 1948 and then went to San Francisco State College, where he met Willie Brown, who had grown up in Mineola, Texas.
         That was the beginning of a lifelong friendship. On Saturday, the mayor visited Mr. Gilford at his home several hours before he died.
         ''Rotea called him up and told him, 'I can't do this anymore. I'm going to die. Can you come over to my house?' '' said Judi, Mr. Gilford's wife. When the mayor arrived, ''Willie and Rotea held court for all the people in the house for over an hour. It was just wonderful, incredible. It was all jokes, all love, all fun. There was so much joy in the room.''
         Yesterday, friends remembered Mr. Gilford's life of service in the community. In the years before he joined the Police Department in 1960, Mr. Gilford served two years in the Alameda County Sheriff's Department and worked as a bridge toll taker and a cable car operator, according to his former police partner, now-Assistant Chief Earl Sanders.
         In 1960, Mr. Gilford joined the Police Department. It was during Mr. Gilford's patrols as a beat cop in the Fillmore district that Sanders got to know the man he regarded as his role model.
         ''We called him 'Mr. Smiley,' '' Sanders recalled yesterday. ''He'd run us off the street, saying, 'OK guys, give me my street.' He gained respect because he was firm but direct.''
         After stints as an inspector in the burglary and robbery units, Mr. Gilford -- along with Sanders -- became the first black inspectors to join the department's prestigious homicide unit in 1971.
         In that role, they were known as the ''Soul Brothers'' and worked on the Zebra slayings and other major cases. Mr. Gilford received 15 commendations in his 18-year police career.
         San Francisco Fire Department Chief Bob Demmons, who also grew up in the Fillmore district and met Mr. Gilford when he was a cop there, said: ''He served as a role model for me in the fight for justice over the years in the Fire Department.''
         In 1978, Mayor George Moscone appointed Mr. Gilford to be the director of his Council on Criminal Justice. After Moscone's assassination, Mr. Gilford stayed on in the administration of Mayor Dianne Feinstein, serving as a deputy mayor. He also worked briefly for Mayor Art Agnos and was a member of Mayor Brown's Recreation and Park Commission.
         In a telephone interview from Washington, D.C., Senator Feinstein remembered Mr. Gilford fondly. ''He stood for giving a youth a chance, but they really had to understand success was based on performance.''
         Along with his wife, Judi, Mr. Gilford is survived by his first wife, Patricia of Oakland; his two sons, Steve of Oakland and Chance of San Francisco; a foster son, Terry Marshall of Albuquerque, N.M; a daughter, Judy of Oakland; and a sister, Gladys Pittman of Daly City.
         The 11 a.m. service for Mr. Gilford will be tomorrow at the West Bay Convention Center at 1290 Fillmore St.
  • Last Edited: 26 Jul 2015