Peter Seidler honored as Mr. San Diego; friends, family remember 'true goodness' of late Padres owner

Peter Seidler's phone was always ringing.

Well, quacking — the repetitive duck-honk ringtone familiar to anyone who owns a smartphone.

"It was always going off, all day long," Seidler's widow, Sheel, said Thursday.

Sheel Seidler and the Seidlers' three children would stop their games of chess or Uno if it was someone special on the other line, like MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred. They played through the frequent calls from Padres executives Erik Greupner and A.J. Preller.

Seidler, who died Nov. 14 at age 63, was constantly making time for others — whether it was Manfred, Preller or Gruepner; the members of his famed "Tuesday Group," the Lucky Duck Foundation or Stand Up to Cancer; or any of a number of San Diegans who turned to the Padres owner for support, advice or funding.

Seidler was named the San Diego Rotary Club's "Mr. San Diego" on Thursday an awards luncheon held at Liberty Station. The honor is given annually to "a living person not now in government elective office, who has contributed outstanding community betterment" to San Diego through a long period of time.

Seidler was selected as the 2023 recipient before his death, and he and the club tentatively set a luncheon date for last fall. Thursday marked the first time Rotary had awarded Mr. San Diego posthumously.

Seidler joins a list of impactful San Diegans honored since 1952. Just a few — former boxer Archie Moore, team owners Bob Breitbard and C. Arnholt Smith and broadcaster Jerry Coleman — were connected to sports.

"All those folks over the years had contributed to make San Diego a better place to live, work and play," said San Diego Rotary Club President Michael Brunker, himself a "Mr. San Diego" honoree in 2019. "Peter came into San Diego in 2012 and just made an immediate impact with everything that he would say, think or do with his head, heart and habits. ... He turned his success into significance."

In 1952, Rotary named its first Mr. San Diego. Joseph E. Dryer started the San Diego Heaven on Earth Club, where he urged San Diegans to mail postcards of the city to their snowbound relatives. (The advertising apparently worked).

Seidler was every bit as big of a proselytizer, talking about the day "the baseball gods will shine on the San Diego Padres," wondering aloud whether the World Series parade would be held on land or at sea or envisioning a city with fewer homeless residents and happier citizens.

Seidler made his fortune in private equity, but "he might have been the least transactional person that I ever met," Padres manager Mike Shildt said Thursday in front of an audience of about 200 Rotarians and guests. "You talk about genuine, you talk about authentic, and that was what struck me immediately about Peter's spirit. ... Peter was someone I could trust and someone who I could feel true goodness."

Joe Musgrove said Seidler urged him to "be involved and be available" in the community, words he took the heart.

Sheel Seidler thanked Musgrove and Shildt for attending Thursday's luncheon on a rare off-day. "The last road trip was gnarly," she told them, "but you guys killed it."

Former Padre Mark Loretta recalled how Seidler took an interest in his daughter's college search after learning she was interested in attending Santa Clara. Seidler, who was on the board at USD and knew Santa Clara's president, met with Lucy Loretta for an hour in his office. They talked about "everything," Mark Loretta said.

"Peter made Lucy feel seen," Mark Loretta said, "just like he did with absolutely everyone he came into contact with."

Seidler was unflinchingly positive. But perfect? No. His brother Tom, a Padres executive, described Peter Seidler as "colorblind, overmatched by technology and not always the best dresser." He was also mischievous.

"He toilet-papered my home at the age of 62," Tom Seidler said. "He never lost that embrace of life."

Seidler's friends and family continue to call on him, even in death. Shildt went for a walk after returning to town with the club on Wednesday night, where he "let Peter's spirit talk to me a little bit." Sheel Seidler asked her late husband what to tell the assembled crowd on Thursday.

His message to her: "You can always afford to be kind, no matter what conversation you're having or who it's with."

Said Tom Seidler: "He still inspires us today. We feel his presence, whether it's today, beating the Dodgers or helping out the less fortunate in the community. We can feel him with us."

This story originally appeared in San Diego Union-Tribune .