Kevin Uhrich, Pasadena journalist remembered as ‘warrior for social justice,’ dies at 65

Kevin Uhrich, a respected former reporter and editor known for his work with various news publications across the Southern California region, died over the weekend. He was 65.

Uhrich passed away at 10:29 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 23, at Kindred Hospital in Baldwin Park after suffering from a combination of health issues, said his son, Ted Uhrich.

This week, news of Uhrich’s death sent ripples through the Pasadena community, where he spent decades reporting, editing and advocating, both on issues but also for the journalists he led.

Elected officials paid tribute to his legacy, adjourning Monday’s City Council meeting in his honor, alongside several other residents who recently passed away.

“He was a warrior for social justice before the term was even coined, often speaking out against corruption, corporate fraud, social inequities and human right abuses,” Mayor Victor Gordo said about Uhrich during Monday’s meeting.

His loved ones, former colleagues, and the journalists he had mentored remembered Uhrich as a steadfast reporter and crusader for minority rights.

“I have often in my life found myself getting into trouble on behalf of other people, because I grew up watching my dad caring more about other people than himself,” Ted Uhrich, 40, said when reached by phone on Tuesday, Aug. 27.

“He was very pleased to be a thorn in the side of people who thought that they could hurt other people without paying the consequences for it,” his son said.

That stems from Uhrich’s strong belief that everyone should be treated fairly, Ted Uhrich said.

“My dad was really somebody who felt that the world should be a fair place, and that if it wasn’t fair because of certain people, the rest of us had a right to know about it,” he said.

The person who might know it first-hand is Kevin Uhrich’s long-time partner, Marina Tse, who described him as Robinhood, committed to serving the poor and minorities.

The two met in 1993 during a meeting in Alhambra, where Tse was addressing the beating of a Chinese young person. Throughout the 30 years they’ve known each other, they helped and supported each other, said Tse, a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education.

“He was very sensitive to the community, the people, including minorities,” Tse said.

Carl Kozlowski, a former arts editor with the Pasadena Weekly, recalled that Uhrich took care of him when he was hospitalized while still a freelancer at the publication.

“I wound up in the hospital with a bad leg problem, infection,” he said. “And I wound up at L.A. County hospital because I had no insurance, and Kevin only knew me a few months at the time, and I was only a freelancer. I was five days in the hospital. He showed up everyday, barely knowing me, and drove all the way across the city to L.A. County hospital, and would hang out with me for a whole hour every night.”

My dad was really somebody who felt that the world should be a fair place, and that if it wasn’t fair because of certain people, the rest of us had a right to know about it. – Ted Uhrich, son of Kevin Uhrich

While he was in the hospital, Kozlowski’s colleagues at the Weekly told him that Uhrich demanded the publication give Kozlowski insurance.

“He stormed into the publisher’s office, and slammed the door shut. Everybody in the office could hear him yelling, ‘either you hire Carl and get him insurance, or I quit,’” Kozlowsk said. “I got hired the day I came back from the hospital.”

Uhrich was born on Feb. 24, 1959. He grew up in Lebanon, Penn. He moved to California in 1979 and worked at several publications, including the Star-News and the Pasadena Weekly.

He worked for the Simi Valley Enterprise and the L.A. Daily News in the 1980s. He worked for the Star-News as a city hall reporter in the mid-90s.

Ultimately, he helmed the Weekly, where he served for 21 years, from 1999 to 2020.

In addition to Ted, Uhrich is survived by his daughter-in-law Dorene, grandson Kedt, granddaughter Audrey and several siblings.

‘I miss him, everybody misses him,” Tse said.

Friends are planning a public memorial in September in Pasadena for Uhrich. For details, call or text Joe Piasecki at 310-733-0931 or email joe@cunninghamre.com.