By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – A “celebration of life” for the late former Assemblyman Howard Wayne (D-San Diego) has been scheduled for 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 18, at Elijah’s Restaurant, 7061 Clairemont Mesa, according to his wife Mary Lundberg.
Co-chairs of the event will be attorney Jim Spievak and businessman Ken Cohen, who were his friends with insight into his non-public persona.
Spievak and Wayne attended the University of San Diego law school together and often met once a month as the Tuesday Club with other budding lawyers, including Susan Finlay, who would go on to serve as an active Superior Court judge between 1980 and 2000.
The group continued to get together regularly even after graduating from law school, said Spievak, who has served as an in-house attorney for several corporations during his career.
Although Wayne was a Democrat and Spievak a “socially liberal, fiscally conservative Republican,” the two friends used to enjoy discussing ballot propositions and social issues. Spievak and his wife Joyce also enjoyed occasional holiday dinners with Howard and Mary.
Cohen and his wife Elena bonded with Howard and Mary over their mutual love for dogs. Howard and Mary have a Great Pyrenees named Ulric, “who is not crazy about people, except for Howard,” Cohen said. “Great Pyrenees are really big, I am sure he is more than 100 pounds, but he avoids people. We tried to meet him a few times but he doesn’t like to stay in the same room with strangers. They also have a German Shepherd named Bella, a lovely, sweet creature.”
At the end of the year Cohen will complete his tenure as a board member of the San Diego Humane Society. He said when his German Shepherd named Shanna died of old age, “it was a very hard loss for us, and Howard and Mary came by and visited and the brought us some lovely mementoes of Shanna. Then we lost another German Shepherd, Kal, earlier this year and their understanding of this was just great. Now we have two younger, healthier dogs.”
Another area of mutual enjoyment was attendance at Cygnet Theatre productions in Old Town San Diego. “They were regulars there and they brought us to a show years ago, and we became fans of the theatre as well,” Cohen said.
Like Spievak, Cohen enjoyed discussing politics with Wayne. “We would consult with Howard to understand as much as we could about upcoming elections, candidates, issues, and judges – all the things that are hard for voters to learn.”
Lundberg said that Wayne’s younger brother, Bob, who is also an attorney, will reflect on Howard’s life at the Nov. 18 gathering, and that other friends will be encouraged to share their stories.
Wayne died Nov. 2 after being hospitalized with a pneumonic infection of his lung and slipping thereafter into a coma. Death came on his 75th birthday. A private funeral service has been scheduled in the days preceding the public celebration of life ceremony.
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Donald H. Harrison is editor emeritus of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com