Meet Robert Katz

Robert Katz has come to live with us at Caring House. We are honored.

Robert was born in New York to Hyman and Martha Katz. Robert (“Robbie” to his siblings) was the eldest of four. The family moved to Southern California when he was 3. Although he came here at such an early age, he finds it funny that people have often said they detect a New York accent.

Robert attended Hollywood High in Hollywood, CA, where he played football and was in the chess club. At his mother’s encouragement, he joined the AZA (an international youth-led fraternal organization for Jewish teenagers).

He attended UCLA and UCLA Law School in Westwood, CA during which he was on the Law Review. Upon graduation, he worked as City Attorney in Burbank. He later became Deputy Attorney General for the State of California, a position he held for 41 years. He particularly enjoyed working on training films for police departments as Deputy Attorney General.

Robert was president of Association of California State Attorneys (ACSA) for a number of years after holding other board positions. As a member of ACSA, he was active in coordinating efforts to make all levels of law enforcement more effective.

Being a lover of history, Robert has a keen interest in politics, but only in its relevance to history. He never has had any desire to run for public office.

In 1968, he met Ronna Levin at an Alumni Club dance at Universal City. They dated for over a year. Robert called Ronna every night but no proposal. One day, he called to say he wanted to take her shopping and to wear comfortable shoes. Ronna says they went to what seemed like every jewelry store in LA, finally finding an engagement ring they both liked. She says, “typical Robert, he never actually asked me to marry him.” They married at the Sportmen’s Lodge Hotel in Studio City, CA.

Robert and Ronna have two children, Martin (“Marty”) and Rachel. They lived most of their married life in Van Nuys, moving to the South Bay thirteen years ago.

Robert enjoys sports in general and is a big fan of the Dodgers. He was thrilled when they won the World Series this year.

Growing up, his family was not especially religious, but at the age of 40, Robert decided to become Bar Mitzvah. He is very determined in all he does (he used to do 1,000 sit-ups every morning!), but in general he has a quiet nature. He enjoys most music, but prefers listening to “oldie goldies.” Same with TV. He loves all the old shows like “The Waltons,” “Adam 12” and “Bonanza” – which are often on in the background as he does crossword puzzles.

We are glad Robert is with us at Caring House. We look forward to caring for this intelligent and accomplished man.

In Memoriam

Robert passed away on December 25, 2020. Honor him. Remember him.