PASSINGS: Newport-Mesa’s notable losses in 2006

GABRIEL ‘GIBBY’ FERNANDEZ, 84

In his 23 years as general manager at the Arches Restaurant in Newport Beach, Gabriel “Gibby” Fernandez was a familiar face. When he died in April, just five months after his retirement, friends and customers remembered him as a snappy dresser and a gentleman with a sharp wit.

Over the years, his plaid suits and wide grin became common sights around one of the city’s most upscale restaurants

In 1995, the Southern California Restaurant Writers Assn. named Fernandez maitre d’ of the year.

CANDACE TIFT, 31

The fall started on a tragic note at Eastbluff Elementary School as teacher Candace Tift, who taught the fourth and fifth grades, died as a result of a bicycling accident the week before school began.

Tift was riding her bicycle on West Coast Highway on Aug. 25 when a woman driving a Lexus veered onto the curb and hit her. The driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. Tift, who had taught at Eastbluff for three years, died the next day.

On Sept. 21, the school held a service for her, with teachers, administrators and family members offering tributes.

Tift was survived by her husband, Wade Tift, and her 1-year-old son, Owen.

PAT SMITH, 69

Pat Smith, the attendance clerk at Corona del Mar High School, died of cancer in April — two days after she came into work on a Saturday to straighten out her office. It was a fitting farewell for a woman whose colleagues remembered her as a woman with an iron work ethic.

Smith had worked at Corona del Mar High for nine years. Although her official post was in the attendance office, she became a familiar face all over campus, running the Preliminary SAT tests and often showing up to support drama productions and athletic events.

In addition, she left a legacy of charity and volunteer work. In 2002, she co-founded the Relay for Life, a Newport Beach fundraising walk to benefit cancer research, and last year, she helped her city build a Centennial Float for the Rose Parade.

Widowed at an early age, she was survived by her sons, Mike and Kirk Smith, and several grandchildren.

JASON BOND, 58

Remembered by many as the bagpiper at military ceremonies and funerals, Costa Mesa resident Jason Bond died of esophageal cancer on Sept. 1.

During his final months, community members united to help Bond, an immigrant from Australia, in any way possible. One friend, a fellow musician, made a call to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher’s office, earning Bond a Certificate of Congressional Recognition in his final weeks.

ERNEST NEUFELD, 92

Looking for nothing more than a good investment, Ernest Neufeld became the owner of the Rendezvous Ballroom, one of the Balboa Peninsula’s favorite dance halls, in 1947.

Neufeld died April 15 of natural causes.

When he and his wife, Thelma Neufeld, bought the property, it remained undeveloped for several years before the ballroom began booking surf-rock legends. The couple successfully ran the dance hall for a decade, until it burned down in 1966.

BOB LEWIS, 81

The proud owner of several racehorses, Bob Lewis died Feb. 17 at his Newport Beach home of heart failure.

Two of his most famed horses, Silver Charm and Charismatic, fell just short of winning the Triple Crown. Both winners of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, the horses came close to taking the Belmont Stakes.

Lewis served in the Army during World War II before working as a beer salesman from brewers in Northern and Southern California.

It was not until 1990 that he and his wife, Beverly, bought their first two thoroughbreds. Friends and competitors remarked about Lewis’ friendly demeanor and genial attitude toward competition.

JAN PAUL ANDERSON, 63

Jan Paul Anderson, a top news cinematographer called “the Indiana Jones of television news” by his co-workers, died of a heart attack in March.

Anderson had a house in Newport Beach.

He was the principal cameraman for the National Geographic Society from 1974 to 1978 and won four Emmy Awards for children’s programs on NBC in the 1980s. He later worked for ABC in Los Angeles as a cameraman on “20/20,” “Good Morning America,” “World News Tonight” and “Nightline.”

Anderson also worked for governments, filming top-secret subjects for NATO. Later, he created the Newport Beach Police Department’s first video production department and was a pioneer in filming crime scenes to document evidence.

PATRICIA HITT, 87

Patricia Hitt, national co-chair of Richard Nixon’s 1968 presidential campaign, died of natural causes at her Balboa Island home on Jan. 9.

As Nixon’s assistant secretary of health, education and welfare in the late 1960s, Hitt was the highest-ranking woman in that administration and the only woman to be a presidential campaign co-chair.

Always involved in politics, Hitt went door-to-door for Nixon in his 1946 campaign for Congress, and she later gave the opening speech at the 1964 Republican convention. On a more local level, she helped push to incorporate Villa Park after moving her family there from Balboa Island. Hitt also founded Human Options, an Orange County organization that supports and shelters battered women.

To her last day, said son John Hamilton, she believed history would reflect well on Nixon.