In November Hermosa dignitaries, friends and family filled much of the large Community Center playhouse to say goodbye to longtime City Treasurer John Workman, who died of an apparent heart attack at age 73, just three days after he lost a reelection bid.
Workman’s body lay within a stately casket surrounded by wreaths and flowers, while he was eulogized as a faithful city servant, a dedicated volunteer whose efforts made him a Chamber of Commerce man of the year, a kind friend and a loving husband, father and grandfather.
Friends and family recalled Workman the entertainer, who as a youth sang Christmas carols with the Smothers Brothers at the family home in Redondo Beach, and then played piano on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” and used a warm wit and deft delivery to become a popular emcee at Hermosa civic events.
In the 1950s Workman played keyboards in small combos, often featuring Danny MacNamara on sax, and in one of those bands appeared on the popular nationwide “Sullivan” variety TV show.
The 18-year treasurer was eulogized by his wife of 50 years, Mary Ellen Workman, who spoke of her love for him and his love and attention to his community, and seemingly everyone in it.
“He was our Johnny,” she said. – Rob Fulcher
During the 1960s Golden Age of surfing, the pictures in people’s minds, worldwide, when they thought of the newly popular Hawaiian sport was almost certainly a photograph taken by Leroy Grannis.
If there was a preponderance of South Bay surfers in the photos, which appeared in Life, Look and Sports Illustrated, as well as Surfer, which he helped found, it was because Grannis was a third generation Hermosan. He was born on the kitchen table of his family’s beach cottage on Fourth Street, on August 12, 1917. Granny, as he was known to all, caught his first wave when he was 12, at 14th Street in Hermosa in 1931. He would continue surfing for another seven decades, until age 84 and remain active in photography into his 90s. Three years ago, Taschen, the prestigious German publisher of coffee table books, released a 275 page collection of Grannis’ photos titled Leroy Grannis: Surf Photography of the 1960s and 1970s. A similarly lavish book of Grannis’ photos, titled Photo: Grannis, Surfing’s Golden Age 1960 – 1969 was published 10 years earlier by Surfer’s Journal.
Granny passed away Jan. 11 of this year, peacefully, in his sleep from no particular cause except that of a body well worn by good use. He was 93.
He is survived by his children John, Frank, Nancy and Kit, daughter-in-law Lisa, grandchildren Alana, Kaylee, Liza, Alan, Cindy and Robert, great grandchildren Casey, Emily and Dane and a great great granddaughter. He is also survived by Fenton Scholes and Dick Minie, the two remaining, founding members of the Palos Verdes Surf Club. – Kevin Cody
He was called the king of King Harbor. Les Guthrie arrived in Redondo Beach in the late 1960s with a bold vision that – against significant odds — he subsequently brought to fruition. The city’s fledgling harbor was in trouble, with defaulted bonds and a scarcity of investors. Guthrie mortgaged his home and somehow managed to build a seaside empire. His King Harbor Marina holdings eventually included 860 boat slips, 49 apartments, 18 office units, the Spectrum Athletic Club, the Blue Water Grill, the Chart House restaurant and the King Harbor and Redondo Beach yacht clubs. His passing in June marked the end of an era in the harbor.
Guthrie was that rare combination of visionary and micromanager. One colleague described him as a “spreadsheet king,” but he also had an almost artistic impulse to create.
“A sculptor needs clay. I need sticks and stones, steel and concrete to express myself. There’s a certain creative process there, a certain feel. When you stifle a person’s creativity, it’s like killing that person,” he said in a 1983 Easy Reader interview.
Guthrie would suffer countless near deaths, professionally, some man-made, such as city attorney Goddard’s refusal to issue Guthrie a certificate of lease compliance required by his bank for his King Harbor apartments, until Guthrie prevailed in a costly lawsuit; natural disasters also nearly prevailed, including the 1994 earthquake that destroyed a seawall protecting his marina. Again, litigation was required to force the city to honor its partnership responsibility to repair the 200 boat slips he lost.
Guthrie waged an equally contentious fight for over two decades against Waldenström’s Macroglobulinemia, a rare blood disease, which forced him to give up skiing at age 79, and at 80 to end his 27-year year running streak in the Redondo Beach Super Bowl Sunday 10K, which he founded in 1978 to encourage visitors to the harbor.
The disease finally claimed its inevitable victory. Guthrie died on June 11 at Cedar Sinai Hospital, at age 84. — Kevin Cody
Monsignor Michael Lenihan, known as “Father Mike” to the parishioners of Redondo Beach’s St. Lawrence Martyrs Church who he ardently served for three decades, passed away March 23 from complications related to pneumonia. He was 85.
At one of the largest funeral’s the city had ever seen, Lenihan was remembered as a tireless advocate for the less fortunate and as a remarkably open-hearted priest whose kinder, gentler approach to matters of the church made it possible for countless lapsed Catholics to return to their faith. He was a throwback of a sort, the classic Irish parish priest who doted on his flock and was stalwart in his service to each and every member – showing up anytime day or night to attend to deaths, illnesses, and countless families crisis’.
Cardinal Roger Mahoney, the Archbishop Emeritus of Los Angeles, described Lenihan as one of his “very special advisers and confidantes” who “spent himself fully in service” to his flock.
“He was extraordinary in his commitment, and will long remain in the history of our archdiocese as a fine example of selfless priestly service,” Mahoney wrote.
Lenihan, who came from a the tuberculosis-ravaged family in small country parish of BallyMcElligott in County Kerry, was known both for his lilting Irish eloquence and his inexhaustible energy. Many of his sayings became well known in the community. Pat Lane, a fellow Irishman who became a very close friend, recalled Lenihan’s constant urging: “Just get out there, get off your arse, and do the work. The people need you.” — Mark McDermott
Tootie’s farewell
Cullen passed away at age 59 after a long battle with cancer, but not before taking a 4,000-mile bucket list trip in an RV with family, stopping at Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Canyon.
Upon returning to the beach cities, Cullen began planning his 60th birthday. Family members rented an RV and set up for a few days at DockweillerBeach. About 150 people dropped by to wish Cullen happy birthday and say their goodbyes. Two weeks later he was gone. – Deb L
Former Hermosa Beach city officials, including city attorneys Bud Mirassou and Chip Post and formerLos AngelesCountylifeguards, including John Horn, Chris Gerold, Mike Stevenson and the Garrett brothers Dick and Dave, were among the mourners at a paddle-out for former Hermosa councilman and lifeguard Jack Wise on Sunday, September 25
Wise died at his home inPalmDeserton July 20 at age 84 after a long fight with dementia.
Terri Wise recalled her father as “loving anything to do with water.” After surviving Japanese suicide bombers during WWII aboard the destroyer the USS Eaton, he worked as aLos AngelesCountylifeguard for 25 years. He was among the first SCUBA divers and worked as a commercial hard hat diver.
“We never did not have a boat. We had power boats and sailboats and were always on the way to Catalina, or just out fishing. He and his buddy Bud Stevenson built two boats in a vacant lot on the corner ofPier AvenueandPacific Coast Highway. Bud’s was named “the city ofHermosa” and Dad’s was “Miss Hermosa,” Terri Wise recalled.
During his years as a home builder, Wise was known to recycle old toilets as fishing reefs off of Hermosa.
Following his wife Betty’s death in 1986, Wise moved toPalm Desert, where he became part owner of Smokey’s restaurant and continued to build houses.
He is survived by daughters Terri and Robin Wise, granddaughters Angela, Shannon, and Becca, and great grandsons Evan and Ian. The family asked that any contributions be made to a favorite charity, particularly any having to do with the ocean. –Kevin Cody
