Most of them came to the San Fernando Valley from other places but their work here, in diverse endeavors, has left an unforgettable imprint on our community. Here is a look back at the contributions of some San Fernando Valley residents who died this year:
Rosa L. Broadous - African-American church leader and community activist. Since the 1960s Broadous, affectionately known as “Mother Broadous,” was a role model for community activism. She co-founded Pacoima’s Calvary Baptist Church with her husband, the late Rev. Hillery T. Broadous in 1955. Her community leadership included work with Valley Interfaith Council, the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the NAACP, the Braille Institute, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, PTA and the North Valley YWCA. Broadous died on Oct. 28. She was 89.
Patricia Carter - business owner. Carter was co-owner of the Red Barn Feed and Saddlery, in Tarzana and West Hills, with her husband, Phillip Carter. She had a career as a social worker in the Los Angeles Unified School District and at Kaiser Permanente before she switched gears to learn business skills, learning bookkeeping when she was in her 60s, and connecting with Valley animals lovers. Carter died on April 19. She was 76.
The Rev. Msgr. Philip Grill - founding pastor of St. John Eudes Roman Catholic Church. Grill was the associate pastor at Our Lady of the Valley Roman Catholic Church in Canoga Park when he was asked by the late Cardinal James Francis McIntrye of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to start a new parish in 1963 in Chatsworth. Parishioners remember his leadership skills and his singing ability. Grill died on June 6. He was 92.
Joe B. Jordan - architect. Jordan was a Burbank-based architect for four decades. Citizens fulfilling their jury duty in Van Nuys can admire the Van Nuys Superior Court complex that Jordan designed. His firm, Joe B. Jordan, A.I.A. and Associates, also designed several Los Angeles County fire stations in the Antelope Valley. He had a 46-year perfect attendance record with the Burbank and Camarillo Rotary clubs, an international service organization. Jordan died on Aug. 11. He was 82.
Haig Keropian - former Daily News editorial page editor. Keropian worked at the Van Nuys News and Valley Green Sheet, later the Daily News, from 1962 to 1985. He served two terms as president of the Los Angeles Press Club. Keropian, a resident of Sherman Oaks for many years, died on Oct. 7. He was 91.
Barbara Kolbe - business owner. Kolbe helped establish one of the first Honda dealerships in the United States with her husband, Andrew Kolbe. The Kolbes launched the first Honda motorcycle franchise, Kolbe Cycle Sales, in 1959 on Ventura Boulevard in Woodland Hills. They opened their auto dealership, Kolbe Honda, in 1971. Kolbe died on April 6, five months after her husband died. She was 73.
Rudy Lugo - teacher, football and wrestling coach at Canoga Park High School. Lugo was known affectionately as “Mr. Canoga” by students and faculty at Canoga Park High. Lugo attended the school from 1962 to 1965 and returned as a teacher after his graduation from San Fernando Valley State College (now California State University, Northridge). Lung cancer was the only battle that called him away, in 2006, from his beloved Hunter football field. Lugo died on Oct. 21. He was 60.
Bob McCord - restaurateur. McCord, a former sound man on the “Death Valley Days” TV show, was the owner of the Sagebrush Cantina in Calabasas. He opened the popular Mexican restaurant in 1974 after collecting an insurance settlement from injuries he suffered in a plane crash. The Sagebrush Cantina, still a popular hangout, was also home to McCord’s collection of circus memorabilia. McCord was a noted booster for Calabasas cityhood, establishing Old Town Calabasas. McCord died on May 12. He was 69.
Matt McHale - former Daily News sportswriter. McHale joined the Daily News in 1988. He loved baseball and he reveled in reporting the Dodgers’ World Series championship that year. McHale, a sportswriter for more than 25 years, also wrote for the Pasadena Star-News and the Orange County Register. He covered the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s and the Los Angeles Kings in the 1990s. McHale, who became deputy sports editor in 1996 at the Daily News, left the paper in February. He died on July 14. He was 50.
Doris “Dodo” Meyer - longtime community liaison for the San Fernando Valley. Meyer was the “eyes and ears” in the Valley for 17 years for the late Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley. Meyer was 15 when her family moved to the Valley in 1939 and saw the area evolve from a pastoral landscape into America’s suburb. She was considered one of the key players in the black-Jewish coalition to elect Bradley. Meyer, who was sometimes called “the mayor of the Valley,” helped to create the Van Nuys city government center. Meyer died on Sept. 27. She was 83.
Del Simmons - musician. The Valley’s unofficial “Mr. New Year’s Eve,” helped to usher in the new year for almost 25 years in the Valley. His last professional New Year’s Eve event was in 2006 at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City, where he played clarinet and tenor sax. Del Simmons was born James J. Simonian. A memorial was held on Nov. 21. He was 85.
Jill Averill Swift - environmentalist. Swift, along with fellow environmental activists Margot Feuer and the late Susan Nelson, worked to create the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. Through their efforts, in 1978 Congress established the world’s largest urban national park. Swift served as a Los Angeles parks and recreation commissioner, helped preserve Caballero Canyon and was named Woman of the Year in 1993 by the California State Legislature. Swift died on May 19. She was 79.
holly.andres@dailynews.com 818-713-3708