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Former Alameda County judge and longtime Pleasanton community member Ron Hyde died from Covid-19 earlier this month. He was 81.
“My husband lived to serve his neighbor,” Leticia Hyde, the late judge’s wife of over 20 years, said in a Spanish-language interview with the Weekly, translated into English. “He shared his love, knowledge, time, money and effort for our community and beyond.”
Hyde was born on June 3, 1943 in Portland, Oregon, where he grew up playing golf, going camping with his family and even learned how to drive his father’s large truck by the age of 9, his widow said.
He also grew up loving flowers — specifically roses — which might have been the reason why he took up gardening later in life.
Leticia Hyde first met her husband in 2002 during one of the annual Pleasanton-Tulancingo Sister City Association (PTSCA) trips to Tulancingo, Mexico. The two eventually got married and settled down in Pleasanton.
“Our love, which God allowed us for 22 years here on earth and now in heaven, was very beautiful,” she said.
Ron Hyde had been an active member of the association since the ’80s and had even served as president at one point. However, according to a post from the association, he had been absent from more recent events due to health issues that he was battling for the past four years.
“It is with sadness that we inform you of the death of our member and past association president, retired Judge Ron Hyde,” the association’s post stated. “Ron was a great supporter of our Sister City Association and an active member.”
The post stated that Hyde died on Jan. 7 at 3 a.m.
Apart from his years of volunteering, Hyde was mostly known for his time as an Alameda County Superior Court judge.
However, that period of his life came with some controversy due to his removal from the bench.
According to a Sept. 26, 2003 article by the Weekly, the Commission on Judicial Performance at the time stripped Hyde from his role as judge due to past disciplinary issues, his “lack of candor” and other concerns regarding integrity.
Leticia Hyde said she didn’t “understand the dismissal as a judge” and instead focused on the rest of his life which included nonprofit work and other community volunteer work.
At one point in 2012, Hyde stepped into the role as chief executive officer and president of the defunct Tri-Valley Community Foundation.
Leticia Hyde also pointed to her husband’s contributions to the Pleasanton Partnerships In Education Foundation which she said he described as the “the root of the wealth of humanity,” and to his work with East Bay Stand Down, an organization that helps veterans without homes get the resources they need.
She also said one thing he especially liked to do for the community was host the Kids in Court program, which was when he went to elementary schools and taught kids about the court system.
“Something he also loved was giving lessons in court to fifth grade children to instill good values in them so that they would never do things that would lead them to lose their freedom and be treated like criminals and delinquents,” she said.
Memorial services for the late judge have not been announced as details are still being finalized, according to Leticia Hyde.
