Harvey Irving Saferstein — 09/27/1943-11/18/2020.
Harvey was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated cum laude from UC Berkeley in 1965 followed by Harvard Law School in 1968 where he was the executive editor of the Harvard Law Review. He then clerked for the Hon. Bailey Aldrich (1st Circuit) and Philip Elman at the Federal Trade Commission.
Harvey was a lawyer’s lawyer. Loving the practice of law, he worked tirelessly for over 50 years specializing in antitrust litigation. Throughout his distinguished career he was active in the Antitrust Section of the ABA. Harvey led the Los Angeles office of the Federal Trade Commission from 1978-1980. He was recently elected president of the Antitrust Section of the Los Angeles County Association. He worked continually to improve ways to make the law easier to navigate. As president of the State Bar of California and Legal Aid Foundation, he worked for positive change. He was also an active member and officer of the Disability Legal Defense Fund along with many other organizations helping the less fortunate. He taught advertising law at UCLA as well. And he worked hard as a lawyer representative in the 9th Circuit for over 30 years chairing two conferences and bringing live music to many of the conferences. Two years ago, he was presented the John Frank award at their annual conference recognizing all of his hard work through the years.
Harvey was one of the most energetic and enthusiastic people on this planet. In short, he loved life. He loved sharing his passion for live music with friends, colleagues and family. But loving music was just one of his many passions. He loved art, theater (always going to plays and was a member of the Center Theatre Group for over 40 years), movies, LA Phil and sports events. He was a huge fan of the KC Chiefs as well as the Dodgers, Rams and Royals. He loved politics and collecting antiques. He was so happy to see Joe Biden win the election. He had supported him for president in 1988. Travel was another passion and he and his wife Peggy traveled the world. One of his favorite spots was Cabo where they had extended family vacations for over 40 years. It was there he got to spend time with his grandkids on the tennis court. He truly loved playing tennis with anyone who would play with him.
His most important contribution to this world was his love of people. Harvey genuinely loved helping others, mentoring young lawyers and making lasting friendships. More than anything, he loved hanging out with his three sons, two daughters-in-law and six grandchildren. The world will be a little less bright without him in all of our lives. He will be truly missed.
He is survived by his wife Peggy (they were married 56 years), his three sons (Jonathan, Daniel and Philip), his two daughters-in-law (Suzy and Caroline), his six grandchildren (Jake, Sam, Will, Ava, Oscar and Martha) and his sister Rita Mouber.
Because of COVID, Harvey was buried in a private family ceremony at Mount Sinai Memorial Park-Hollywood.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a contribution to US AGAINST ALZHEIMERS, website: usagaistalzheimers.org/donate.
