Jeanne Alicia Parsons

October 13, 1926 - June 29, 2019

Jeanne Alicia Parsons passed peacefully, surrounded by her sons and daughters, on Saturday, June 29, 2019, after 92 years of a very full and spirited life. Jeanne is survived by 9 children Anne Willcoxon (Michael), Sarah Katz (Jeff), Joseph Parsons (Rita), Jack Parsons (Aileen), Bill Parsons, Jeanne Davidge (Kevin), Jim Parsons (Julie), Christine Rehm, and Timothy Parsons (Kaori), son-in-law Ralph Kopenhaver, daughter-in-law Sally Parsons, 15 grandchildren, George Willcoxon (Nicole), Katharine Willcoxon, Ian Parsons, Claire Parsons, Jimmy Parsons (Jessica), Johnny Parsons (Rachael), Ryan Parsons (Nicté), Kelly Parsons, Andrew Davidge (Rachel), Caroline Kresky (Ben), Connor Davidge, Colin Parsons, Frances Parsons, Elaine Rehm and Leah Parsons, 6 great-grandchildren, Theodore Willcoxon, Elizabeth Willcoxon, Julian Davidge, Eli Davidge, Charlotte Kresky and Jaxton Parsons. Jeanne is reunited with her loving husband John Frederick Parsons, her daughter Mary Kopenhaver, and her grandchild Sarah Rehm, in what certainly is a very happy reunion in the Lord’s home.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Jeanne was the first of her generation to graduate from university, St. Louis University, and did so with high honors. After college, during WWII, Jeanne worked for the US Army as a cartographer, leveraging both her education and extraordinary artistic skills.

Following a trip to Europe with friends, Jeanne met the love of her life, John, on a blind date in January 1951. Immediately smitten, they were married shortly thereafter. Jeanne and John enjoyed a 47-year marriage based on love, friendship, fun and respect.

As the mother of ten children, Jeanne provided a beautiful example through her actions by leading a life of unconditional giving and generosity to her family and friends. Jeanne always emphasized that we could achieve anything we put our minds to. She taught us to care for our families and one another above all else. Jeanne never settled for less than our best efforts in everything we did.

Jeanne, John and family moved from Webster Groves, Missouri, to Oakland, California in 1963. Jeanne’s deep religious faith, nurtured through her Jesuit education and church community participation, was shared with everyone in her presence.

In addition to raising a large family, Jeanne was active in her community and instilled in her children the value of helping others. The garage was often used as a polling place. She also had a tremendous belief in the value of education and supported local schools by organizing a variety of functions at Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School, Holy Names High School, and Bishop O’Dowd High School. Jeanne never stopped trying new things and even rowed on Oakland’s Lake Merritt for the ‘Ladies of the Lake,’ comprised of mothers whose daughters rowed for Holy Names High School. Jeanne sat at position eight in her boat, as stroke of the crew team. All told, the nine mothers in the boat had 68 children among them! Rarely a weekend went by without an invitation from Mom for Sunday Dinner. She was happiest with a full and noisy table.

Please join the family in celebrating Jeanne’s life. Family and friends are invited to attend a Memorial Mass at Saint Monica Catholic Church, Moraga, CA 94556, Friday, July 26, 2019, at 10:30 AM.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making contributions in Jeanne’s name to: Catholic Charities East Bay, 433 Jefferson Street, Oakland, CA 94607-3592. We love you Mom……… Walnut Creek, California Prominent Judge and long-time Antioch resident. Judge Manuel C. Rose, Jr. died at 95 on June 20 in Walnut Creek. At his side was his wife of 71 years, Willie, and his youngest son, John.

Born in Richmond, CA on July 26, 1923 to Manuel C. Rose, Sr., a hard-working Portuguese immigrant with little formal education, and his wife Rosalina (nee Andrade), a secondgeneration PortugueseAmerican. He graduated from Richmond Union High School in 1941 and began attending UC Berkeley. Interrupting his studies to join the US Navy at the outset of our country’s involvement in WWII, he served as an electronics technician and sonar instructor at the Brooklyn Navy Yard until 1945. Returning to Cal Berkeley, Manuel completed his BA in economics with honors in 1947 and received his LLB from Boalt Hall of Law in 1950. Manuel was fond of pointing out that his degrees were signed by then California Governor Earl Warren, a future Chief Justice of the United States. Passing the bar exam the same year, he joined the firm of Winters and Winters in Antioch. As the state of California began consolidating city judges and justices of the peace into regional justice courts manned by part-time judges, Manuel decided -- largely to gain some recognition for his firm -- to run for the newly created Antioch Justice Court judgeship in 1952. A newcomer opposed by the presiding city judge and the presiding justice of the peace, he nonetheless won the election by fifty votes. Fluent in Spanish as well as Portuguese, Manuel always believed his Hispanic friends and clients were responsible for the victory. Twenty-nine at the time, Manuel became one of the youngest judges ever elected in the state.

Several years later, he would open his own practice at Second and F Streets in downtown Antioch.

His long tenure as a judge coincided with the development of eastern Contra Costa County itself. When the Antioch and Pittsburg justice courts were consolidated into the River Municipal Court in 1969, Manuel gave up private practice to become a full-time judge; after Brentwood’s Delta Justice Court was added in 1973 it became the two-judge Delta Municipal Court. Manuel served as an elected municipal court judge for the next thirty years, retiring in 1983. He next served as a judge pro tem for 23 more years, remaining active as his court continued to grow into the Contra Costa County Superior Court based in Pittsburg. Manuel finally hung up his robes for good in 2006.

He was a liberal Democrat who believed that poverty was the root cause of crime and that stiff sentences were not a deterrent. Providing more resources for counseling and rehabilitation, he believed, would reduce recidivism, especially among young offenders. He believed that if anyone’s civil rights were taken away, everyone’s civil