In the 1970s, as a waiter at S.F.’s Concordia Argonaut, Harold Treskunoff displayed the antithesis of good manners as he served Edward Bransten, the chairman of the Jewish Community Relations Council.
“Harold served him an elegant lunch in an elegant manner,” recalls longtime friend John Rothmann. “But as soon as Edward Bransten finished his last bit of dessert, Harold pulled up a chair and started arguing with him. ‘Now,’ he said, ‘Let’s get down to business.'”
Treskunoff died of congestive heart failure Aug. 17 in the Granada Senior Home in San Francisco. He was 77.
But the memories of a man filled with old-fashioned gallantry and leftist-political outspokenness live on by the dozen.
“That was my brother,” said Joyce Freedman of Springfield, Penn., “the kind that held the door for you, or pulled the chair back — who from an early age was extremely precocious as a crusader for the underdog.”
Born in 1923 on the East Side of New York, Treskunoff grew up in Washington, D.C. A member of the Society of Professional Journalists, he worked as a copy boy and reporter for the Washington Post and had served as editor of all his school newspapers over the years.
From ages 18 to 22 he served in Japan during World War II and worked as a reporter for Stars and Stripes.
“His bent was a love of journalism,” said Freedman. “He had a real reporter’s instinct.”
Freedman — or “kiddo” as Treskunoff called her — described her older brother as “always attentive,” stressing to her the need for academic excellence. When she was 4 years old, he sent her picture to the Washington Post for publication. When she was 16, he surprised her with a corsage when she competed in a Queen Esther Purim contest sponsored by B’nai B’rith Girls.
“That feeling of love and respect was always there,” she said. “He was always excited and happy with my accomplishments.”
Treskunoff held his family members in high regard and often spoke of them to friends. An avid Zionist, he was especially proud of his father, a member of the Jewish Legion, a military formation of Jewish volunteers in World War I who fought in the British army to liberate Erez Israel from Turkish rule.
He moved to San Francisco with his wife, Lois, in 1953. Their son, Roger, was born the next year. Lois Treskunoff died in 1988.
In San Francisco, Treskunoff became a frequent candidate for public office. He ran for a seat on the S.F. Board of Supervisors, the state Senate and the U.S. Congress. Although he was never a winner, he certainly was never a failure.
“He never expected to win,” said Rothmann. “He just wanted to be on the forefront of social issues and he always succeeded in making himself heard.”
Roger Treskunoff recalled reading, in 1962, at the age of 8, headlines in the S.F.-Chronicle and S.F.-Examiner calling his father, then the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, a “gadfly” and a “perennial candidate.”
“I used to ask him how wise it was to go at something without a wide chance of success,” said Roger Treskunoff. “He would tell me that if you pursue strong principles, you will be satisfied at the end of the day.
“He always stood by principle. That left an impression with me always.”
Despite their leftist bent, his strong principles earned him high esteem within the political arena.
“At the time he represented views that were, even in San Francisco, way ahead of his time,” said Roger Treskunoff. “But he ended up having a lot of friends and a lot of political respect.”
Treskunoff was an advocate for civil rights and democracy in his union, formerly the Waiters Local 30. His outspokenness on ending racial discrimination in the union once got him expelled.
“He truly believed that if workers got together they could make the world a better place,” said Rothmann. “And he was never willing to remain silent when he felt there was a battle to be fought.”
As an advocate for the Brown Act, he became an aggressive crusader for public openness in meetings, winning a 1972 case against the San Francisco Human Rights Commission.
He once told his son that it was the “strong Judaic principle instilled within” him that gave him his “acute sense of justice” and “consciousness.”
“He accomplished so much and had such a strong sense of character,” said Roger Treskunoff. “I feel like if I could be half the man my father was I’ll be very successful in life.”
Treskunoff is also survived by his daughter Sharon Treskunoff of Sacramento; his two nieces, Lynn Freedman of Dobbs Freey, N.Y. and Gail Freedman-Cohen of Jerusalem; and two grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held 3:30 p.m. Sunday at Sinai Memorial Chapel, 1501 Divisadero St., S.F.