David Roderick (October 29, 1921 – December 4, 2007) was an American lawyer and Democratic politician who served in the

Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 ...

from 1948 to 1952.

Early life

Born in Frederick, Maryland, Roderick moved with his family at a young age to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington. He attended Broadway Central High School, where he was friends with many students who became victims of the

internment of Japanese Americans United States home front during World War II, During World War II, the United States forcibly relocated and Internment, incarcerated about 120,000 people of Japanese Americans, Japanese descent in ten #Terminology debate, concentration camps opera ...

. Roderick fought in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

as a

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

pilot in the Pacific Theater, and then returned home to Washington, where he graduated from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1947.

Politics

In 1948, Roderick successfully ran for the

as a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, and served two terms while also attending the University of Washington Law School. While in law school, he became friends with future federal judge

Jack Edward Tanner Jack Edward Tanner (January 28, 1919 – January 10, 2006) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington and the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. ...

. During and after his stint in the legislature, he was active in the

labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

and civil rights movements. Roderick worked as a labor arbitrator on the Seattle waterfront, and marched with

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

for African-American voting rights in 1960. In 1960, Roderick worked for the presidential campaign of

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

. He moved to

Kingston, Washington Kingston (formerly Appletree Cove) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,515 at the 2020 census. Kingston is along the shores of Appletree Cove and Pu ...

, and ran for the legislature again during the 1968 elections, but was defeated by the Republican candidate.

Later life

Roderick moved to

Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the List of cities in Alaska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of ...

, in 1971, where he was the

campaign manager A campaign manager, campaign chairperson, or campaign director is an individual whose role is to coordinate a political campaign's spending, broad tactics, and hiring. They lead operations such as Campaign finance, fundraising, advertising, Opi ...

for his brother John "Jack" Roderick's successful run for mayor of Anchorage in 1974. He worked as an attorney in Alaska until his retirement in 1995, when he returned to

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

Personal life

Roderick married his first wife, Jean, in 1948, and they had three children; the couple divorced in 1958. He remarried in 1961 to Marcia, and the marriage led to two additional children, Susan and John Roderick, who became a noted musician and podcaster. David and Marcia Roderick divorced in 1974. After a series of strokes, Roderick died from

respiratory failure Respiratory failure results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system, meaning that the arterial oxygen, carbon dioxide, or both cannot be kept at normal levels. A drop in the oxygen carried in the blood is known as hypoxemia; a r ...

in Seattle on December 4, 2007, at the age of 86.

References

1921 births 2007 deaths 20th-century American lawyers Alaska Democrats American labor lawyers Candidates in the 1968 United States elections Deaths from respiratory failure Democratic Party members of the Washington House of Representatives United States Navy pilots of World War II University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni University of Washington School of Law alumni 20th-century members of the Washington State Legislature {{Washington-WARepresentative-stub