Roland Seidler, Jr.:
Family

Highly-respected Roland Seidler, Jr., the son-in-law of Baseball Hall of Fame Dodger owner Walter O’Malley and his wife Kay, was a dynamic business leader in Los Angeles. With his wealth of knowledge and integrity, Seidler chaired his own flourishing companies, but was also sought to serve on wide-ranging boards of directors as he was regarded as a treasured resource.

Born in Los Angeles on January 21, 1929, Seidler successfully blended a career overflowing with education, business management, service, baseball, faith, charitable endeavors and family life.

In 1936, his parents moved to San Marino, CA. Seidler graduated from St. Therese Grammar School, Loyola High School and the University of California at Berkeley.

As a youngster, he always enjoyed playing baseball with friends on the streets and at San Marino’s Lacy Park. Seidler served as an altar boy at St. Therese Church. Through his childhood, he was an active Boy Scout, earning the Eagle Scout Award in 1946. Seidler graduated with honors from Loyola High where he was a pitcher for the baseball team.

After graduation from Cal in 1952, he enlisted in the Army and was assigned to the Army Language School in Monterey, CA. with Danish as his appointed language. Seidler also served the Army Intelligence Corps in Stuttgart, Germany. Before he returned to America, Private 1st Class Seidler splurged by buying a Volkswagen, having it shipped from Germany to New Jersey. Driving home from the East Coast to California, heads turned as there were few VW Bugs on the road in the United States.  

Upon his discharge in 1955, Seidler entered the business world working for Mitchum, Jones and Templeton, a brokerage firm in Los Angeles.

On May 4, 1958, Seidler attended the Dodgers-Philadelphia doubleheader at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as part of “St. Therese Parish Day,” an event he organized. Little did he know that all of his hard work would change his life. It was at the first game that he was introduced to Terry O’Malley, who was working as personal secretary for her father Walter in the Dodgers’ initial season in Los Angeles.

The couple quickly fell for each other. Seidler proposed to Terry by taking the offramp on the Pasadena Freeway at Bridewell Street, assuring her that he loved her and would always treat his “bride well”. They were married October 4, 1958 at St. Therese Church in Alhambra, CA, and then moved into a South Pasadena apartment. Twice in famous TV host Ed Sullivan’s “Little Old New York” columns did he mention the Seidlers. First was upon their August, 1958 engagement, and second was during their October honeymoon. New York Daily News, Ed Sullivan, “Little Old New York”, August 22, 1958 The Philadelphia Inquirer, Ed Sullivan column, October 8, 1958

In 1959, Seidler opened the McDonnell and Co. branch office in Los Angeles and was elected as a Vice President in 1961. He was a founding partner of Seidler, Arnett and Spillane and Chairman/CEO of The Seidler Companies Incorporated in 1969.

Seidler served on the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1975-98 and also was their Secretary (1975-80), Treasurer (1981) and Vice President, Treasurer (1982-98). He regularly attended games at Dodger Stadium and at Holman Stadium in Dodgertown, Vero Beach, Florida during Spring Training. Seidler’s business expertise had a significant impact in the success of the Dodgers, three times recognized as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work for in America.”

He served on Board of Directors of Mellon West, Golden State Foods, and the Writer Corporation, the New York Stock Exchange Boards of Arbitration and Hearing, Pacific Stock Exchange Board of Governors and National Association of Securities Dealers Ethics and Business Conduct Committee.

Among the educational and community institutions on whose boards he served: chaired the Loyola Marymount University Board of Trustees, UCLA Anderson School of Management, Advisory Council for the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, Los Angeles Archdiocesan Finance Council, Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, St. Francis High School and Town Hall Los Angeles. Seidler was a major contributor to the Southern California community.

The Seidler family grew with 10 children: sons John, Peter, Michael, Robert, Tom and Matt and daughters Carol, Mary Kay, Annie and Jeannie. For seven years, they lived in San Marino, CA, followed by a move to Pasadena.

Beloved as a father, he took the family on numerous vacations ranging from Rome, Hawaii, Montana and Copenhagen. At their ranch-style house in Chapman Woods, Pasadena, he raised puppies, chickens and calves while entertaining children and grandchildren with fun activities in the backyard. 

Seidler passed away June 8, 2006 surrounded by his loving family in Pasadena and was remembered by hundreds at a funeral Mass at his parish of 31 years, St. Therese.     

His brother-in-law Peter O’Malley paid tribute to Seidler at the time, “Rollie was not only my close friend and business associate, but a ‘brother’ in every sense of the word. As one of the most influential and dynamic leaders I have known, he made a tremendous impact on the Southern California business community, as well as the many non-profit charitable organizations in which he participated. Rollie greatly contributed to the success of the Dodger organization.”