Jack Berman, 80; San Francisco Judge, Civil Rights Advocate

Jack K. Berman, 80, a San Francisco judge, socialite and civil rights advocate, died Thursday at a San Francisco hospital of head injuries suffered in a fall. Berman struck his head on the ground after he collapsed from a heart arrhythmia while playing tennis.

Berman, a former husband of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), was born in San Francisco and earned bachelor’s and law degrees from UC Berkeley.

He served in the Navy during World War II, and was a defense counsel for the War Crimes Tribunal in Manila in 1946-47. He married Dianne Goldman, who later became Dianne Feinstein, in 1956. The couple divorced in 1960.

After World War II, Berman practiced law and was an assistant district attorney in San Francisco, before Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him a Superior Court judge in 1982. He retired in 1992.