Newport’s historian dies

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BEACH -- Journalist James Person “Jim” Felton, the preeminent

chronicler of the city’s history, died Sunday. He was 86 years old.

“I will miss him,” Felton’s son, Richard, said Wednesday. “But the

last few days were so unpleasant for him that it’s a great blessing.”

Felton, who had had several heart attacks, had checked into Mission

Hospital in Mission Viejo two weeks ago with bronchitis. Felton and

Gwendolyn, his wife of 62 years, had just moved to an assisted living

community in Mission Viejo a few weeks before.

Born in Mt. Vernon, Wash., Felton grew up in Seattle, Boise, Idaho,

and Stockton. After graduating from the University of Washington, where

he majored in journalism, Felton worked for the Seattle Times, the San

Diego Sun and the Oxnard Press-Courier. He also worked as the city editor

for the Los Angeles Daily News, the editor of the Newporter-Mesa News and

wrote more than 1,000 columns for the Newport Ensign, Daily Pilot and

Newport News.

Felton also contributed to Time, Script, Life and Good Housekeeping

magazines and edited the Bay Window, the Balboa Bay Club’s monthly

newsletter, for four years.

As vice president of Foote, Cone & Belding and Avco Financial

Services, Felton also established himself in the field of advertising and

public relations.

Throughout his life, Felton had a passion for storytelling, said his

daughter, Anne Hines.

“Up until very recently, he loved writing,” Hines said, adding that

her parents moved to Corona del Mar in 1971. “He was always researching

things. He stayed quite on top of what was going on in the world and had

incredible stories to tell.”

Felton also took every opportunity to tell stories about his five

children, Hines said.

“Every nurse had to meet all of us and hear all about us,” she said,

adding that Felton also enjoyed gardening.

Newport Beach folks who knew him remembered Felton as “just a good

all-round guy.”

“He was a great advocate of this area and a great advocate of life in

general,” said Jim Wood, a former Newport Beach library trustee.

After he retired, Felton wrote and edited several books on the city’s

history, including essay collections for Newport Beach’s 75th and 100th

anniversary and “Host of the Coast,” a history of the Balboa Bay Club.

Felton’s community involvement included leadership positions with the

Orange County Philharmonic Society, the Orange County chapter of the

National Conference of Christians and Jews, the Oasis Senior Center,

United Way, the Boy Scout and Girl Scout councils as well as “Smokey

Bear,” the Forest Fire Prevention Campaign.

In a 1983 column on a Speak Up Newport ceremony honoring his wife and

himself, Felton remembered how a former boss had urged him to get

involved in the community.

“Maybe I overtrained,” he wrote. “But if I had it all to do over

again, I’d probably do it all over again, hopefully better.”

Felton is survived by his wife; five children, Mary Gluck, David

Felton, Anne Hines, Richard and Judith Felton; 14 grandchildren; eight

great-grandchildren; and two sisters, Mary Ann Minger and Faye Goddard.

A memorial service will be held Sunday, May 6, at 2 p.m. at St.

Michael’s and All Angels Church in Corona del Mar. The family asks to

send contributions to senior centers in lieu of flowers.