Jeff Raimundo, beloved former Bee journalist and Sacramento political consultant, dies at 77

Jeff Raimundo, a former Sacramento Bee journalist of more than two decades who went on to a successful career in public relations and who is remembered by loved ones for his sense of humor and rich enjoyment of life, died Friday. He was 77.

Raimundo served from 1964 to 1988 as a reporter and editor for The Bee, covering California politics and reporting for the Washington, D.C., bureau of the newspaper’s parent, The McClatchy Co.

“Jeff was a dear friend, and an extremely valuable colleague,” said Gregory Favre, former executive editor of The Bee. “For years, he was truly an excellent journalist, and for years he provided Bee readers with valuable and vivid information.”

Raimundo most recently worked for Cottage Housing Inc., an organization focused on helping those experiencing homelessness in Sacramento transition to self-sustainability. He served over the years as its board president and executive director.

Raimundo also spent time in recent years as president of the Sacramento Zoo’s board of trustees.

“He was extraordinarily bright and caring and funny,” said Kris Martin, CEO of Cottage Housing. “He wanted to make the world a better place, and almost everything that he did was toward that goal.”

Martin said the two of them would meet at least every three to four weeks, to talk about their lives and the organization, and that Raimundo “was always positive, even when it was clear he was hurting.”

Raimundo died Friday from complications of prostate cancer. He was surrounded by family.

A Sacramento native born April 22, 1946, to two Sacramento natives, Raimundo graduated from C.K. McClatchy High School and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Sacramento State, where he also spent time as editor of The State Hornet newspaper.

In 1988, Raimundo joined Townsend Raimundo Besler & Usher, a political consulting firm in Sacramento. The firm’s founder, David Townsend, said he recruited Raimundo and worked with him for about 25 years; he was a friend for more than 40.

“He was the nicest human being I’ve ever known in my life,” said Townsend, who first met Raimundo in the 1980s during Walter Mondale’s 1984 presidential campaign. Over their decades of friendship, the two bonded over golf and baseball. Raimundo was an avid Giants fan, while Townsend roots for the New York Mets.

Raimundo’s wife of 31 years, Rebecca LaVally, is a former Sacramento bureau chief for United Press International and was most recently an adjunct professor of communication studies at Sacramento State.

During his time with The Bee, Raimundo covered the deadliest disaster in city history — the September 1972 crash of an F-86 Sabre jet into Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour, which killed 22 people and injured 28 others at the restaurant near Sacramento Executive Airport.

Following his Bee career, Raimundo co-wrote three books on California’s political climate with LaVally and with Steve and Susie Swatt: “Game Changers: Twelve Elections That Transformed California” (2015); “Paving the Way: Women’s Struggle for Political Equality in California” (2019) and “The Time Travelers: Meet Some of the Women Who Paved the Way for Equal Rights in California” (2020).

In addition to LaVally, , his wife of 31 years, Raimundo is survived by sons Scott and Todd Raimundo; daughter Amy Raimundo Seaholt; stepdaughter Sarah Kirby-Gonzalez; sister Karen Strobach Cali; brother Tom Raimundo; and six grandchildren, ages 9 through 17.

“Even in his last few months when had his (cancer) diagnosis ... he never lost that sense of humor, he never lost that love of life,” Favre said.

Local leaders joined in mourning Raimundo’s passing Friday.

“I have had the pleasure of knowing Jeff Raimundo for decades, and I’ve always appreciated his professionalism and irrepressible ability to see the humor in any situation,” Mayor Darrell Steinberg said in a statement released through Townsend’s firm, I Street Affairs.

Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper in a prepared statement called Raimundo a “trusted advisor and good friend.”

“Jeff loved life, and his passion for the Sacramento region never ceased to shine through,” Sacramento Congresswoman Doris Matsui also said in a statement through I Street Affairs.

His family asked that any donations in Raimundo’s name be made to Cottage Housing: 1500 N. A St., Sacramento, CA 95811.