Bill Rosendahl—who was the first gay man to serve on the Los Angeles City Council—died March 30 at age 70 after a battle with cancer.
Rosendahl was diagnosed in 2012 with cancer of the ureter; the disease went into remission in 2013, but it reappeared in 2014.
The outspoken Rosendahl had long witnessed historical moments. He said he went to Washington, D.C., in 1963 to hear the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his “I Have A Dream” speech, and he also described being at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles in 1968 the night Robert Kennedy was assassinated.
Rosendahl decided not to run for a third term after his initial cancer diagnosis.
Rosendahl is survived by his longtime partner, book publisher Hedi El Kholti. They registered for a domestic partnership in 2012.