Former Mercury News reporter Jessie Mangaliman dies at 63
Jessie Mangaliman, a reporter who brought skill and verve to journalism for Mercury News readers and diligent service in a publicaffairs career that followed, died Monday of an apparent heart attack. He was 63.
Mangaliman, who was born in the Philippines, came to the United States as a high school exchange student in Wagoner, Oklahoma. He stayed in Oklahoma to attend Northeastern State University, where he earned degrees in journalism and French.
After working as a staff writer at New York Newsday and the Washington Post, he came west to the Bay Area as a Mercury News staff writer in 1999 and rose to the position of night city editor, helping to contribute to rich, vibrant coverage of local and breaking news, as well as issues of race, immigration and diversity.
“Jessie was a wonderful journalist, but more importantly he was a wonderful human being,” Bay Area News Group Senior Editor Bert Robinson said. “He brought a level of enthusiasm and grace to everything he did. I think the main thing I learned from Jessie is to bring a good attitude to work every day. It makes your work better, and it makes you so much more enjoyable to be around.”
His journalism experience, honed through a John S. Knight Fellowship for professional journalists at Stanford University in 1991 and a decade as a board member for the Asian American Journalists Association, later eased his transition into public-affairs and communications positions: first on the board of directors of the International Institute of the Bay Area, and later as a media relations manager at Kaiser Permanente and recently as a public relations director at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco.
“Jessie was a part of the Fed family for only a short time, but his calm, thoughtful nature had already made an impact,” bank director of public relations Jenny Mack said Tuesday. “It was an honor to work with him and call him a friend. He will be deeply missed.”
He is survived by his husband, John Meier. Information on memorial services and charitable-cause donations was still pending Tuesday evening.