James Rolph Jr.
Toronto Daily Star, March 20 1931
James Rolph Jr. (1869-1934), nicknamed "Sunny Jim", was the mayor of San Francisco from 1912 until he resigned in 1931 to become governor of California. He was, and remains, the longest-serving mayor in San Francisco history.
He suffered a series of heart attacks and then passed away in 1934 while still in office. While governor of California, he was most known for openly ignoring Prohibition laws and doing nothing to stop the lynching of the killers of the kidnappers and murderers of department-store heir Brooke Hart.
The National Governors Association website has a short biography of Rolph. I could find no references to him flying an airplane.
Created October 15, 2025.