Ellen M. Corbett

A Mass in honor of Ellen Marie Corbett, the first woman to be elected San Leandro Mayor before a career in the state Legislature, will be Sept. 21 at the Church of Assumption in the East Bay city she called home.

Corbett, a former Majority Leader of the California State Senate, longtime legislator, community college professor and civic activist, died Aug. 9 at age 69. She was a daughter of the Corbett family, whose members have long been involved in East Bay legal and civic circles.

“Ellen really loved San Leandro, and representing the neighborhoods,” recalled longtime friend Phil Daly. They had known each other since their college days in the 1970s and worked together as young political activists. Daly said Corbett “lived and breathed politics.” “Ellen always managed to do the right thing on behalf of the people she represented. She stayed informed. She knew the issues,” said Daly.

Ellen Corbett grew up in a robust Irish Catholic family with deep roots in the East Bay and California. Her father the late attorney William D. Corbett embraced his Irish ancestry, as did her mother Eveleen Sullivan Corbett. The senior Corbett’s met at the University of California Berkeley and started their family in Oakland before moving to San Leandro more than 50 years ago. Ellen followed in her father’s law career, as did brother Kevin Corbett and younger sister Mary Corbett Matoza.

Ellen Corbett graduated from Bishop O’Dowd High School, attended Chabot College and the former Cal State Hayward before earning a bachelor’s degree from UC Davis and a law degree from the McGeorge School of Law at the University of the Pacific.

Ellen Corbett’s passion was politics. She served 16 years in the state Legislature and was only the second woman to be elected Majority Leader of the state Senate.

Corbett cherished a political pin from the 1900s given to her by her late grandmother, Marion Sullivan of Sutter County, who had earned it as a young woman at a political convention in San Francisco. Her grandmother, a woman who was one of the earliest to graduate with a degree in mathematics from UC Berkeley, recognized in Ellen the drive and commitment it took a woman to have a life in law and politics. “She was deeply moved by our grandmother’s gesture, and she valued that pin as a treasure,” said Mary Matoza, Ellen’s younger sister.

Ellen Corbett served on the San Leandro City Council before becoming the first woman to be elected Mayor, serving in that role from 1994 to 1998.

Corbett was elected to the state Assembly in 1998 and served until 2004 when she was termed out. Two years later, Corbett was elected to the state Senate from the 10th Senate District.

Corbett served as Senate Majority Leader from 2010 to 2014.

“She was very respected, and well liked,” said Jason Liles, legislative director for current Senate Majority Leader Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg.

While in the Legislature, Corbett authored more than 160 bills that were signed into law including seismic safety inventories of all K-12 school buildings, protecting privacy of domestic violence victims, preventing sale of illegal guns at gun shows, strengthening internet privacy and user account protections, and requiring training on gender identity and sexual orientation for judges.

Following her Legislative career, Corbett in 2016 was elected to the board of the East Bay Regional Park District and served a term as president.

District officials remembered Corbett as a “tireless advocate for communities to have access to open space, public parks and nature.”

Ellen Corbett is survived by son Ryan Boehme; her mother Eveleen Corbett; sister Mary Corbett Matoza (Craig); brothers Edward Corbett, Bill Corbett (Joanna) Kevin Corbett (Patty), Tim Corbett (Grace); and nieces and nephews Patrick Corbett, Katie Corbett, Megan Corbett, Dylan Matoza, Shane Matoza, Fiona Corbett, and Sofia Corbett. She was predeceased by her father William D. Corbett, brother Danny Corbett, and sister-in-law Michelle Corbett.

Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. on 9/21 at the Church of Assumption, 1100 Fulton Ave., San Leandro, CA. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Davis Street Community Center or San Leandro Boys and Girls Club.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Ellen M. Corbett, please visit our floral store.