Mr. Irvin A Edstrom

Born on October 27, 1923, Irv grew up in San Francisco’s Excelsior District, where he attended Balboa High school. In the Second World War, he served in the U.S. Army’s Second Signal Battalion, setting up communications lines for the Allied forces in Europe. Upon his return, he worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad and played minor league baseball. During a stint as a dishwasher at San Francisco Park & Rec’s Camp Mather, he met Rosemary M’Guinness, whom he married in 1948.

Devoted to athletics throughout his life, Irv earned a degree in Physical Education at San Francisco State University and served as a playground director for SF Park & Rec for seven years. From 1958 until 1989, he served as physical education teacher, Athletic Director, and coach at Town School for Boys, where he co-founded the Independent School Athletic League and was known for his good humor, compassion, commitment to fair play, and patient devotion to organization and order. He brought the same love and steadiness to his 62-year marriage to Rosemary and to raising his five children.

Irv remained active well into retirement – playing golf, taking over much of the family’s housework, and working part time as a courier for an office supply business in the Financial District, a role that allowed him to walk 5-7 miles per day and brought him into the offices of many of his former Town School students and parents. He was mobile and self-sufficient until the day he died, filling his time with jigsaw puzzles and crosswords and taking care of his Sunset District home.

Irv is survived by his sister, Evelyn Platz, his children Susan Hanley (Kevin), Gary, Nancy, Karen Ratto, and Bethany, his grandchildren Danielle Sayles, Christopher Sayles (Sarah) and Maria Ratto, and his great-grandchildren Paul Sayles and Henry Sayles.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, November 3, at 2:00 pm at the Pacific Boychoir Academy, 215 Ridgeway Avenue, Oakland CA. Donations to Town School for Boys and Pacific Boychoir Academy are appreciated.