Former Pleasanton councilman, school trustee Arnold Abrott dies at 105

L. Arnold Abrott, a civic and business leader in Pleasanton for decades who served on both the City Council and school board during the 1950s and ’60s, died earlier this month of natural causes in his later-life hometown of Roseville, according to his family. He was 105.

An Amador Valley High School alumnus and World War II veteran, Abrott was an engineer by trade and worked for years at Kaiser Sand & Gravel Co. in Pleasanton, climbing the ranks until retiring as president and general manager in 1980. He also sat as an early board director for both Valley Memorial Hospital in Livermore and Community First National Bank of Pleasanton.

“With all of Arnold’s accomplishments, his role as a husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather and great-grandfather is where he shined the brightest,” Abrott’s family wrote in his obituary on the Weekly’s Lasting Memories page. “He and (late wife) Annette loved to spend time with family, travel, play card games and golf. In Arnold’s later years, he became an avid walker.”

Abrott sat on the Pleasanton City Council from November 1950 until May 1956, when he was appointed to the city’s Planning Commission that was formed just one year before, according to city records. He held the commission position until mid-May 1959.

He was additionally elected to the governing board of the old Pleasanton Elementary School District (before school district unification), serving there from 1958 to 1963, including a year as board president in 1962, according to the Museum on Main.

“We extend our heartfelt condolences to Mr. Abrott’s family. Pleasanton is blessed to benefit from a legacy of educational leaders, Mr. Abrott being one of them. We are grateful to all of our trustees, past and present, who have chosen to serve our current and future generations of students,” said Patrick Gannon, spokesperson for the Pleasanton Unified School District.

Born Lyle Arnold Abrott in 1916, Abrott — who went by his middle name Arnold — graduated from Amador Valley High School in 1934 and then from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in civil engineering in 1939.

He worked several years as an engineer with Kaiser Sand & Gravel until being commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He would later attain the rank of lieutenant commander.

After his military service, Abrott returned to Kaiser Sand & Gravel in Pleasanton and continued in the industry in the Tri-Valley during a professional career that ended with him holding the position of president and general manager of the Kaiser operation, according to an article in The Valley Times profiling Abrott upon his retirement in 1980 (shared with the Weekly by the Museum on Main).

Abrott sat for nine years on the Board of Directors for the Valley Memorial Hospital in Livermore — which was built on former gravel pit property donated by Kaiser Sand & Gravel, the same company that also contributed the land that became Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area in Pleasanton, according to the 1980 article.

He also served as a director for the Community First National Bank of Pleasanton.

Abrott and wife Annette lived for years in Pleasanton and then moved to Granite Bay during retirement. They were married for 76 years until her death in 2017 at 100 years old. He later moved into an assisted living facility in Roseville, where he resided until his death on Nov. 5, according to family.

Abrott is survived by his sons Arnold (Gloria) and Timothy (Kimberly), four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. The family held a private graveside memorial soon after his death.

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