OBITUARY

Paul Clinton

Former Newport Beach Councilman Hans J. Lorenz, who played a key role

in crafting the city charter during the city’s transition to a general

law city in the 1950s, died Tuesday of heart failure. He was 88.

Lorenz, who sat on the council from 1958 to 1962, had moved to Sun

Valley, Id. However, he spent his last days in Corona del Mar, where he

had first bought a home in the 1940s.

Lorenz was born in 1912, the child of Austrian vintners who

specialized in white wine.

After studying at the University of Paris, Lorenz came to America. It

was during the turbulent times of World War II.

Continuing his education, Lorenz attended the Colorado School of

Mines, where he received a master’s degree in petroleum engineering.

Lorenz moved to Corona del Mar, where he bought a home on the

beachfront.

A successful local businessman, Lorenz joined the Freeholders

Committee, the group that finalized the charter in 1954. While civic

leaders hammered out the details of the document, Lorenz pushed for a ban

on oil drilling off the city’s coastline, a crucial section that remains

to this day.

Inspired by his role in the formulation of city policy, Lorenz ran,

and won, a City Council seat in 1958. During his four-year term, Lorenz

served as vice mayor.

After retiring from serving on the council, Lorenz represented Newport

Beach on the Orange County Water District board, helping the city secure

water rights in the Fountain Valley Aquifer.

Lorenz served as a volunteer consultant to the city for many years on

public works projects and water issues, said former City Manager Bob

Wynn.

“He was really an intelligent, respected person,” Wynn said Wednesday.

In the late 1970s, Lorenz, troubled by increasing urbanization,

proposed a roll-back-the-clock measure that would have prevented new

ownership of property in the city. It failed to garner enough support.

Lorenz returned to the private sector after his stint in public

service, founding Bakersfield-based piping company Irrigation Supply Inc.

In recent years, the former city official and his wife, Bette, lived

in Idaho, where he bought a condominium. His wife died in February.

Lorenz is survived by daughter Heidi Truax and four grandsons.

Memorial services will be held at 10 a.m. today at St. Michael & All

Angels Episcopal Church, 3233 Pacific View Drive, Newport Beach.

In lieu of flowers, well-wishers should send donations to the

Parkinson’s research department at Scripps Foundation for Medicine and

Science, 10666 N. Torrey Pines Road, Mail Drop 109N, La Jolla, CA 92037.