Lasting Memories

Robert C. Lobdell
1926-July 13, 2008
Menlo Park, California

Robert C. Lobdell of Menlo Park, a former vice president and general counsel for the Los Angeles Times and Times Mirror Co., died Monday at Stanford Hospital from complications of a bacterial infection. He was 82.

Mr. Lobdell worked for the Los Angeles Times and its former parent company from 1965 to 1986.

"Bob exemplified the very best qualities in those chosen by (former publisher) Otis Chandler to serve the Times' senior management," former Times Publisher Tom Johnson said in a memo to former associates. "A mild-mannered, kind colleague, Bob fiercely supported the Times' editors and journalists. He also protected us from more potential legal land mines than most of us know."

Mr. Lobdell worked to free Times reporter Bill Farr from jail after Mr. Farr refused to tell a judge his source while covering the Charles Manson case in 1973.

Born in Mankato, Minnesota, in 1926, Mr. Lobdell moved with his family to Manhattan Beach in 1942.

He served for two years in the Army Air Force during World War II and graduated from Stanford University in 1948, earning a law degree in 1950.

He married Nancy Lower in 1952 and they lived in Long Beach for more than 30 years before moving to Menlo Park in 2004.

In addition to his wife of almost 56 years, Mr. Lobdell is survived by four children, Jim of Portola Valley, John of Sunset Beach, Hawaii, Terri of Palo Alto (the wife of Palo Alto Weekly publisher Bill Johnson), and William of Costa Mesa; and 11 grandchildren.