Quick Take
An everyman of community betterment, Reb leaves an unmatched legacy of doing good throughout Santa Cruz County.
Publisher, philanthropist, homeless advocate, patron of the arts, and stalwart community supporter Rowland Rebele died Saturday, Nov. 25, at the age of 93. He had been suffering from a number of ailments in his final days, including a positive diagnosis for COVID. The Rebele family said that he died of cardiovascular disease.
Rebele — known affectionately throughout the community as “Reb” — was a gregarious and passionate presence in Santa Cruz County for decades. He supported a wide variety of organizations and individuals across a number of areas through direct donations, the establishment of scholarships and other methods.
His success as a California newspaper publisher in the 1960s and ’70s allowed him and his wife of 69 years, Pat Rebele, to move to Santa Cruz County in 1980. In the four decades since, the Rebeles have been tireless supporters of the Santa Cruz Symphony, Santa Cruz Shakespeare and the Homeless Services Center. Among the other local institutions they have supported: Cabrillo College, UC Santa Cruz, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, New Music Works and Episcopal Church of St. John the Baptist. Housing Matters’ Rebele Family Shelter, a homeless shelter in Santa Cruz, bears their names.
“He had a passion that goes beyond anyone else that I know of,” said Linda Burroughs, the president of the symphony’s board of directors, a position Rowland Rebele himself once held. “He led by example. He supported so many causes that were near and dear to his heart. His interests were just so broad-reaching. Everything that he touched was something that he was so passionate about and caring about on so many levels.”
Rebele grew up in San Francisco and met his future wife while still in middle school. After getting his education at Stanford University and later Harvard Business School, he joined the U.S. Navy during the Korean War. He went on to run and manage a number of small newspapers throughout California. Though he eventually sold his interests in the newspapers, he maintained an avid interest in the business of journalism for the rest of his life.
“He just loved learning,” said his son Chris Rebele, a Santa Cruz area real estate agent. “He loved learning about cultures and communities. And he told my mom once, ‘The day I stop learning is the day I want to die.’”
“He was always eager to try to figure out things,” said his daughter, Marianne, also of Santa Cruz. “He really cared about people, especially those less fortunate than he was. He invested in people, and he just wouldn’t give up on people.”
The family, made up of wife Pat and their children, Marianne, Andrew and Chris, has yet to announce a memorial service for Rowland Rebele.
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