The headstone will read: Peter Michael Callinan, November 26, 1930-September 10, 2025. But the dash separating those two dates marks the story of a man who had an immeasurable impact on the history of Rohnert Park.
The son of an immigrant Irish father and Scottish mother, he was born in Newark, New Jersey and passed away at his home in Rohnert Park at the age of 94.
Callinan began shaping the future of Rohnert Park in 1961, before it was an incorporated city. Back then, it was Rohnert Park District, and Callinan was a member of its board of directors. A year later, 1962, Rohnert Park became an incorporated city, and the board was replaced by an elected city council. Callinan ran for a council seat and was the leading vote-getter for its inaugural elected city council. He was named as the city’s first mayor and subsequently became Rohnert Park’s first city manager, a position he held until retiring in 1991. Rohnert Park was just a fledgling city of 3,000 at the time…