Herbert B. Leo |
| Posted 2009-02-07 by Judy Wight Branson |
| Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California Saturday, December 28, 1996 Herb Leo, Anaheim Civic Leader, Dies at 79 Herb Leo, who earned the nickname "Mr. Anaheim" for his decades of civic and business involvement, has died of complications from diabetes. He was 79. He was born November 24, 1917. Leo, described by friends and family as a "people person" who worked tirelessly to improve his community, died in his sleep Thursday at a hospice in Prescott, Ariz., where he had retired in recent years. "He was a pillar of the community in the truest sense of the word," said Midge Hughes, a longtime friend whose late husband, Allan B. Hughes, was involved with Leo in a number of civic organizations. "He always gave a lot more than he took. People like Herb are rare." A native of Idaho who moved to Anaheim with his family as a youngster, Leo was chairman and part owner of Mutual Citrus Products, a food-processing plant founded by his father, H.T. Leo, in 1928. The plant started by making pectin, the fruit-derived gel that is the basis of jellies and jams, then expanded to specialize in fruit flavorings. Leo's volunteer work for the city included helping establish the Anaheim Visitors and Convention Bureau, and involvement with the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, Anaheim Memorial Hospital, Boy Scouts and the Crystal Cathedral. He was an Angels Booster and a major supporter of the Rev. Louis Sheldon's Traditional Values Coalition. "He was a man of the Earth as well as a great, great saint," Sheldon said. "People loved him." Sheldon said Leo had "great political instincts," but never chose to run for public office. Leo did serve for 15 years on the Anaheim Community Redevelopment Commission, but gave up the post in 1987 rather than return his longtime silver pass to Disneyland. He joked at the time that he was keeping the pass for his "happy home." After selling his company in the late 1980s, Leo and his wife, Sally, moved to Arizona to be near one of their daughters, Pam Bond. Sally Leo, his wife of 57 years, died Dec. 8 of leukemia. "Dad held himself together until she was all taken care of," Bond said. "He just made up his mind he was done. He was very ill himself." He is survived by four children, Bond of Prescott, Tom Leo of Livermore, Wendy Cooper of Castaic and Ross Leo of Houston; nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Plans are being made locally for a memorial service. For more information, call (714) 520-0300. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Diabetes Assn. or the American Leukemia Society. |
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