Stuart Seidner, a contractor and active member of the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue, was killed April 12 in a car crash. He was 57.
Seidner was born in April 1948 in Los Angeles. He graduated from Venice High School in 1966. Seidner attended Santa Monica College and Cal State Long Beach, where he majored in construction technology. He was active throughout school in the Boy Scouts and later became the Skipper for Ship 16 that ran a ’63 Air Rescue boat that ferried supplies and camp staff to Camp Emerald Bay on Catalina.
Seidner married Roxane in 1968, the summer she graduated from high school. They worked together to build a construction company, a party boat business and a farm in Nebraska with cattle. They were also partners in the Heartland Cattle Company with Dr. Patsy Houghton and Cal Siegfried.
Seidner was a member of the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue for 20 years. He was active on the board, serving as treasurer, president and facilities chairperson. Seidner was one of a group of dedicated individuals committed to seeing a physical presence for the Jewish community in Malibu. He was there the first day the archeologist inspected the property and saw the project all the way through to the recent dedication of the new sanctuary.
A large number of people attended a memorial service for Seidner on Monday.
He is survived by his wife, Roxane, children Daniel and Erin, mother Ruth Seidner, sister Sandy Michaels Rosenstein (Robert) and brother Gary (Luciano PangPack).