Moffett an institution in Surf City education

It was on a beautiful day in May 1975 that our look back subject

watched Burton Meyer Jr., grand master of Masons in California and

Hawaii, conduct a cornerstone laying ceremony for the dedication of a

new elementary school at 8800 Burlcrest Drive in Huntington Beach.

In our look back, one gentleman had more then a passing interest

in this ceremony and the school. For when completed, the school would

bear his name. The new school would be called Moffett Elementary

School in honor of Sylvester Alvin Moffett.

It was in the small farming community of Burley, Idaho that S.A.

Moffett was born on July 8, 1917. Al, as he was known to family and

friends, had two sisters, Gladys and Betty, to help him with the

family chores.

He learned to handle a horse and buggy very early in life. His

father would hold little Al on his knees and let him drive the

horses. By the time he was 8, he was already driving a team of horses

and helping his father in the field. During his early school years,

Al would ride a horse to school when he could.

As a boy, he learned to play marbles and became so good at it that

local boys didn’t want to play him because he usually won their

marbles. There was a Christmas custom in the Moffett family that

entailed Al and his cousin going up into the mountains and cutting

down a tree for the holiday.

One year, they forgot the ax and had to cut the tree down with

their pocketknives. After that experience they never forgot to bring

along the ax.

During the Great Depression, when money was scarce, Al’s parents

wanted him to have a good education. He attended Albion State Norman

school in Idaho, Utah State Agricultural College in Logan, and after

he graduated from USC, he went to Cal State Long Beach and received

his master’s in education.

While in Long Beach, he went to the Cinderella Ballroom. It was

there that he met the love of his life, Vernie Short.

After Vernie returned to Colorado to be with her family, Al

continued to write to her.

In 1942, the nation was at war, and Vernie returned to Long Beach.

This time Al was determined not to let her get away and so he

proposed.

On June 25, 1942, they were married.

Now newlyweds, they needed an income to live on and so Al went to

work at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach and Vernie took a job at the

Los Angeles Shipyard in San Pedro.

The year of 1945 became a golden year for the Moffetts. The war

had ended, their first child, Wayne, was born, and Al began his long

association with the Huntington Beach City School District.

Al started his teaching career at Central Elementary School (now

Dwyer Middle School) teaching the students in eighth grade. Three

years later, their second child, Janis, was born, and the Moffetts

sold their house in Long Beach and moved to Huntington Beach to live

at 733 13th St.

In 1951, Al was promoted to school counselor, and their third

child, Beverly, was born.

During the 1950s, Al became vice principal and finally principal

of the school.

In 1956, their last child, Ellen, was born. Their children would

all attend both our elementary and high school in Huntington Beach.

By 1962, Al was the assistant superintendent of the city school

district. When John Peterson retired as superintendent in 1965, Al

stepped in. He remained at the district’s helm for the next 14 years.

At the March 11, 1975, school board meeting, the board members

named their new school after S.A. Moffett.

While Al was superintendent, he watched the district grow from two

schools to 11 with a working budget of $8 million.

It was on Saturday, May 3, 1973, that Al witnessed that laying of

the cornerstone by the Masons from Huntington Beach Lodge No. 380 at

the school site that would now bear his name.

Throughout the years, Al was an active member of the Church of

Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He became Bishop of the Huntington

Beach’s 4th Ward on June 18, 1967.

He retired as superintendent in 1979 after completing 35 years of

service to the district. After his retirement, Al and Vernie

continued their participation in their church by taking an 18-month

mission for the church starting Feb. 18, 1987, in Albuquerque, where

they taught the gospel of Christ.

After their return to Huntington Beach, Al underwent an aortic

valve replacement in 1989. The two continued their volunteer

activities for the next eight years at the Mormon Temple in Los

Angeles.

Al’s health began to decline, and on April 26, 1997, he died after

giving so much of his life to his community and to his family.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.