In Memoriam: The people we lost in 2014

More than 50 people attended the memorial service for David Stiller to speak of his loyalty, passion for civic affairs and propensity for sending emails. He died March 9 at 78.

At the time of his death, the active community member had been serving on three Costa Mesa groups: the finance advisory and Fairview Park Citizens Advisory committees and the Costa Mesa Senior Center board of directors.

Councilman Gary Monahan called Stiller one of Costa Mesa’s “pioneers.”

“We were able to debate any topic, and whether we agreed or not, we respected each other’s points,” Monahan said.

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Hobie Alter

Hobie Alter‘s infuence in Southern California beach cities is immeasurable. Alter developed the mass-produced foam surfboard and later popularized sailing by inventing a lightweight, high-performance catamaran.

He was 80 when he died March 29.

“He is one of the pillars on which the sport of surfing is built upon,” said Steve Pezman, a surfing historian and publisher of the Surfer’s Journal. “He was enamored with inventing things. He’d get interested in something, see how it could be improved and go make a better version of it. Once it became repetitive, he moved on to something new.”

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Dennis Holland

Many people know master shipwright Dennis Holland for his fight against City Hall over his efforts desire to restore a 72-foot boat, the Shawnee, in his Newport Beach yard.

But before the Shawnee, Holland was better known for the 118-foot Revolutionary War-era tall ship he built over 13 years in front of his Costa Mesa home and launched in the Newport Harbor in 1983.

For seven of those years, Holland, his wife and their children lived aboard the ship, dubbed the Pilgrim of Newport, as he was building it in order to save money.

Holland spent almost two decades sailing the Pilgrim around Newport Beach and San Pedro before selling it to the Ocean Institute in Dana Point in 2001.

Plans didn’t go as so well when he tried to restore the Shawnee. After years of work, neighbors complained and the city forced Holland to dismantle the ship. It was stripped down by December 2012.

“It took a lot out of [Holland],” said friend Eric Longabardi said at the time. “And I don’t think it was any coincidence that when that fight finally ended, in the beginning of 2013, that his health quickly went from not so good to a lot worse.”

Holland died May 12 at home with family.

The Ocean Institute still sails the Pilgrim of Newport under a new name, Spirit of Dana Point.

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Anthony Zavala

Anthony Zavala was impossible to miss at Newport Harbor High School football games.

At home or on the road, Zavala found a way to be the first person to greet the Sailors before they made it onto the field. He would high-five them and offer encouragement outside the locker room. The process repeated itself at halftime.

Zavala died June 11 from injuries suffered in a skateboarding accident, according to his wife, Peggy. He was 50.

Zavala was a large part of his son’s football and baseball activities.

“My dad was really important to me growing up because of my autism and developmental disorder,” said Joseph, who played in the Costa Mesa Pop Warner football program. “He was always there for me. I’m going to miss him.”

Zavala had four children, Alvin, Angel, Jalil and Joseph.

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Kyle Johnson

After his death in a road accident June 16, Kyle Johnson was remembered as a loving family man, active community member, sports booster and firefighter.

Johnson, battalion chief at the Tesoro Refinery in Carson, was married to highly successful Costa Mesa High School cheer Coach Kori Johnson, and the couple had two children, Kevin and Kyra, then 13 and 10.

Kyle was involved in an automobile accident near the Arizona-California border on Father’s Day, and died early the next day. He was 42.

“He’s such a pillar of the community,” said friend Stacy Zachary. “There was this little boy who rode his bike to school, and his brakes didn’t work, and he hit into a building. Kyle took the kid’s bike and fixed it so he can have it ready for when he got out of school.”

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Ben Carlson

The Newport Beach community was rocked in July when 32-year-old lifeguard Ben Carlson died during a rescue.

He was able to save the swimmer who was caught in a swell near 16th street, but lost his own life. Carlson was the first death in the Newport Beach lifeguard organization’s 100-year history.

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Bob Newcomb

Bob Newcomb was known by UC Irvine players, coaches and fans as the godfather of a UCI men’s program that has won four NCAA championships since 2007. He was also founding director of the UCI Center for Statistical Consulting and a 45-year member of the UCI community.

Newcomb was 81 when he died July 10.

Bob Newcomb founded the UCI men’s volleyball program in 1970 and was the Anteaters’ first coach. He was head coach through 1974.

“Not only did he start the program, he was responsible for keeping it going a couple times [when its existence was threatened by budget cuts]. He was the team’s lifeline,” said Anteaters Coach David Kniffin.

Newcomb, Kniffin said, also began the men’s volleyball club program at UC Santa Barbara, from which he received his Ph.D. in mathematics. He joined the UCI faculty in 1969.

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Jack Hammett

Pearl Harbor survivor and former Costa Mesa Mayor Jack Hammett died Dec. 13 at 94.

Hammett spent 22 years active duty in the U.S. Navy hospital corps, serving in World War II and the Korean War. After retiring from the military, he helped found Bristol Park Medical Group in Costa Mesa. The medical clinic had grown to 85 doctors when he retired in 1985.

Hammett spent 15 years on the city’s Planning Commission and City Council, helping to install recreational lights at TeWinkle Park and underground utilities on Baker Street, approving plans for the Corona del Mar freeway and changing the flight patterns of airplanes traveling from John Wayne Airport.

But while civic-minded, Hammett gave much of his heart to his late wife. Friend’s say that every Friday Hammett would take flowers to Mary Jo’s grave.

“He was such a romantic,” personal assistant Teresa Drain said. “His wife was everything to him. He would download big band music on his iPhone and play it for her and give her the weekly update.”

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Cal Stilley

Cal’s Cameras founder Cal Stilley died Dec. 15 at 90.

Stilley started the longtime community fixture and shutterbug go-to Cal’s Cameras & Video in 1962. After 60 years in business, the shop closed its doors in 2011. Cal’s maintained its mom-and-pop roots, and by the time it closed, all six of the Stilley children had worked there.

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Al Irwin

Longtime Newport Beach lifeguard and well-known local coach and trainer Al Irwin died Dec. 22 at 96.

Growing up in Newport, he became a lifeguard in 1933 and worked every summer until 1941, when he entered the Navy, eventually serving in the South Pacific.

After World War II, Irwin returned to lifeguard work and trained new guards in Newport until the early 1980s.

Irwin taught and coached at Newport Harbor High School for eight years and then coached football and swimming at Orange Coast College.

He went on to coach swimming and water polo at UC Irvine. He retired in 1978.

The Al Irwin Academic Center at UCI was dedicated in 2013, and he was inducted into the first class of the Newport Harbor High School Hall of Fame last year.

Irwin’s daughter, Marcia Maze, remembers her father’s integrity and humility.

“The things that were important to him was how you treated people — you never spoke badly about anyone, and you saved your money for everything you ever wanted in life,” she said. “He lived what he taught. He was a simple, humble man even though he received so many awards.”