Robert Doerr, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetRobert Doerr
American politician and educator
Date of Birth: 27-Oct-1914
Place of Birth: San Jose, California, United States
Date of Death: 05-Dec-2013
Profession: politician
Nationality: United States
Zodiac Sign: Scorpio 
About Robert Doerr
- Robert Charles Doerr (October 27, 1914 – December 5, 2013) was an American politician and educator.
- He served as the 53rd Mayor of San Jose, California, from 1956 to 1958.
- Doerr was the city's oldest living mayor at the time of his death in December 2013.Doerr's grandfather Charles served on the San Jose City Council.
- His father, Fred Doerr, who was also a member of the city council, also served as the Mayor of San Jose from 1928 until 1930.
- Robert Doerr lived with his family at a home at Fifth and William Streets during the 1930s.
- He earned a bachelor's degree from San Jose State University.In 1950, Doerr and Alden Campen, a city landowner and World War II veteran, ran together as candidates for the San Jose City Council.
- The two men promised that the city would acquire the San Jose Water Company if elected.
- The San Jose Water Company countered Campen's and Doerr's campaigns by running a series of negative ads which portrayed them as socialists.
- Campen lost the election, but Doerr was elected to the council.Doerr served on the city council during the 1950s.
- During the early part of the decade, Doerr proposed a new tax on the city's parochial schools.
- The tax proposal, which was opposed by the city's Catholic community, was defeated following an effort led by John P.
- McEnery, the father of a future San Jose mayor, Tom McEnery.Doerr supported the policies of city manager, A.
- P.
- Hamann, who spearheaded much of the city's urban expansion during the 1950s and 1960s.
- Hamann also had San Jose City Hall moved to a new location outside Downtown San Jose in 1958.Doerr served one term as Mayor of San Jose from 1956 to 1958.
- At that time, the Mayor was chosen from members of the city council, rather than through a direct election.
- As mayor (and a World War II veteran), Doerr pushed for closer ties between the city and Japan.
- He established a sister city relationship between San Jose and Okayama.
- He traveled to Okayama to mark the occasion, where he delivered a speech in Japanese from memory.
- The city of San Jose also celebrated its centennial in 1957 during his tenure as mayor.At the time of his term of Mayor, a part-time job in a city of little more than 100,00, Doerr taught Civics at Willow Glen High School.
- He advised all of his students to buy real estate, that San Jose was going to be a big city.
- Speaking as a former student of that time, I wish I had heeded that bit of wisdom. Doerr resided at the Atrium senior home in South San Jose during his later life.
- He died on December 5, 2013, at the age of 99.
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