Stan Hadden

Stanley Scott Hadden
07 Oct 1956 - 02 Dec 1991

Clubs & Associations

Obituary

Leading AIDS policy-maker dies
Stan Hadden was a founder of Sacramento AIDS Foundation
By Nancy Vogel
Bee Staff Writer
Stan Hadden, a founder of the Sacramento AIDS Foundation and one of the most influential AIDS policy-makers in California, died Monday of complications of AIDS.

As a former consultant to Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti and three-time president of the Sacramento AIDS Foundation, Hadden helped to write the legislation that established funding for most of the programs carried out today by the state Office of AIDS.

In fact, in his final two weeks, he received round-the-clock nursing care as part of a hospice program that might not have been created without his influence, said Sacramento AIDS Foundation spokeswoman Patty Blomberg.

"We lost someone who managed policy for the whole state of California," she sad. "Everybody like working with him and truly respected him."

Blomberg said Hadden died about noon at his farmhouse along the Sacramento River, surrounded by friends and family who had flown in from as far away as Michigan. He had gone into a coma Monday morning, she said.

Hadden, who had moved to Sacramento in 1978, joined Roberti's staff in 1981 after writing for a local gay newspaper called "Mom ... Guess What?" and working as a mail clerk and at other odd jobs.

In an April interview with the Bee, Roberti said, "I deeply admire Stan for his dedication and effectiveness in working on some of our most serious health and human issues."

"He was a tremendous force in the community," said Rosanna Herber, assistant to Sacramento City Councilwoman Kim Mueller.

The AIDS Foundation and Roberti's staff joined together last May to honor Hadden, and the turnout was "incredible," Blomberg said.

"We had every who's who in the Legistalture as well people from the governor's office," she said.

Blomberg said Hadden showed her the ropes at the AIDS Foundation when she was first hired and served as an important introduction.

"All you needed to was say 'Stan called you' and it opened every door," said Blomberg, who called his house Monday to talk to his family and got his answering machine.

"His voice was still on it," she said. "Oh, that's the worst thing."

Arrangements for services were incomplete Monday night.

Bee staff writer David Barton contributed to this story.^[1]

Legacy

Stan Hadden Papers at Online Archive of California

Remembrances

AIDS activist given emotional farewell
300 gather at memorial for Stan Hedden
By Robert D. Davila
Bee Staff Writer
Lawmakers, longtime friends and a brassy jazz band bid an emotional farewell Friday to Stan Hadden, a nationally respected AIDS activist who helped shape legislative policies towards AIDS in California.

"Stan's memory will go on, because he made a contribution to this state that many of us can only dream of making," state Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti said during a memorial for Hadden, who also helped found the Sacramento AIDS Foundation.

Hadden, a Michigan native who moved to Sacramento in 1978, died De. 2 of complication from acquired immune deficiency syndrome. He was 35.

As a former consultant to Roberti, Hadden helped write legislation during the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s that established funding for most of the programs operated today by the state Office of AIDS.

Hadden also was active in Sacramento as a longtime leader in the gay and lesbian community.

The hourlong memorial at St. Francis Church in midtown drew about 300 people, including legislators, Capitol staffer and Sacramento City Council members.

Also in attendance were AIDS and gay activists from around the country, whose presence gave a sad poignancy to the service for Hadden.

"It's very difficult to be here today," said Dr. Sandy Pomerantz, a former Sacramento physician who retired to Phoenix, Ariz., after developing AIDS. "As a person with HIV and AIDS, you don't know if the next memorial service will be your own."

During sometimes tearful remembrances, speakers praised Hadden's commitment to helping secure services for Californians with AIDS — even as he fought the fatal illness.

"We were privileged to know you," said Dr. Neil Flynn of the UC Davis Medical Center, a friend who also treated Hadden for AIDS. "We have said goodbye to your flesh, but not your spirit."

Mourners filed out of the church at 26th and K streets to the strains of "Amazing Grace" from a lone bagpipe player fronted by marchers carrying a giant Rainbow Flag, a symbol of the gay rights movement.

The hymn was picked up by a four-piece jazz band, which also played "When the Saints Go Marching In" as mourners followed the banner to a nearby reception hall.^[2]