Jeff Raimundo, a former Sacramento Bee reporter of more than two decades who had a successful career in public relations and was remembered by loved ones for his sense of humor and rich enjoyment of life, died Friday. He was 77 years old.
Raimundo served from 1964 to 1988 as a reporter and editor for The Bee, covering California politics and reporting for the Washington, DC bureau of the paper’s parent, The McClatchy Co.
“Jeff was a dear friend and an extremely valuable colleague,” said Gregory Favre, former executive editor of The Bee. “For years, he was truly an excellent journalist and for years provided Bee readers with valuable and lively information.”
Raimundo has recently worked Cottage Housing Inc., an organization focused on helping homeless people in Sacramento transition to self-sustainability. Over the years he served as Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer.
Raimundo was also in the last years as president of the Sacramento Zoo Board of directors.
“He was extraordinarily bright, caring and funny,” said Kris Martin, managing director of Cottage Housing. “He wanted to make the world a better place, and almost everything he did was towards that goal.”
Martin said the two would meet at least every three to four weeks, to talk about their lives and the organization, and that Raimundo “was always positive, even when it was clear he was wrong.”
Raimundo died on Friday of complications from prostate cancer. He was surrounded by family.
A native of Sacramento, born April 22, 1946, to two Sacramento natives, Raimundo graduated from CK McClatchy High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Sacramento State, where he also spent time as editor of The State Hornet newspaper.
In 1988, Raimundo joined Townsend Raimundo Besler & Usher, a political consulting firm in Sacramento. The firm’s founder, David Townsend, said he hired Raimundo and worked with him for about 25 years; was a friend for over 40 years.
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“He was the nicest human being I’ve ever met in my life,” said Townsend, who met Raimundo in the 1980s during Walter Mondale’s 1984 presidential campaign. During their decades-long friendship, the two they bonded over golf and baseball. Raimundo was an avid Giants fan, while Townsend roots for the New York Mets.
Raimundo’s wife of 31 years, Rebecca LaVally, is a former Sacramento bureau chief for United Press International and is now a professor of communication studies at Sacramento State.
During his time with The Bee, Raimundo covered the deadliest disaster in the city’s history: the September 1972 crash of an F-86 Saber at Farrell’s ice cream parlor, which killed 22 people. and injured 28 others at the restaurant near Sacramento Executive Airport.
Following his Bee career, Raimundo co-wrote three books on California’s political climate with LaVally and with Steve and Susie Swatt: “Game Changers: Twelve Elections That Transformed California” (2015); “Paving the Way: Women’s Struggle for Political Equality in California” (2019) and “Time Travelers: Meet Some of the Women Who Paved the Way for Equal Rights in California” (2020).
In addition to LaVally, his wife of 31 years, Raimundo is survived by his sons Scott and Todd Raimundo; daughter Amy Raimundo Seaholt; stepdaughter Sarah Kirby-Gonzalez; sister Karen Strobach Cali; brother Tom Raimundo; and six grandchildren, ages 9 to 17.
“Even in the last few months when he had the (cancer) diagnosis … he never lost that sense of humor, he never lost that love of life,” Favre said.
Local leaders joined in mourning Raimundo’s death on Friday.
“I have had the pleasure of knowing Jeff Raimundo for decades and have always appreciated his professionalism and irrepressible ability to see the humor in any situation,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said in a statement released through the firm of Townsend, I Street Affairs.
Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper said in a prepared statement that Raimundo was a “trusted advisor and good friend.”
“Jeff loved life and his passion for the Sacramento region never failed to shine,” Sacramento Congresswoman Doris Matsui also said in a statement via I Street Affairs.
His family requested that any donations in Raimundo’s name be made to Cottage Housing: 1500 N. A St., Sacramento, CA 95811.
