Winner: ‘I shall give this my best shot’

Newport Beach educator and World War II veteran Norman Loats thought he was going to lunch with his friend, former Sen. Marian Bergeson, to reminisce about old times Tuesday at Big Canyon Country Club, where he was surprised to learn that he had been chosen as the 2009 Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year.

“What an honor, what a proud group,” Loats said, surprised as he walked into a luncheon in his honor at the country club Tuesday.

Each year, the honoree is announced at a surprise luncheon with all of the past Citizens of the Year in attendance.

“I’m passing the crown on to you, darling,” jeweler and local do-gooder Lula Halfacre told Loats as he entered the room. Halfacre was the chamber’s 2008 Citizen of the Year.

Loats, 86, has dedicated much of his life to education in Newport Beach.

“What sets Newport Beach apart are the people here, people like Norm Loats,” said architect and America’s Cup champion Bill Ficker, who was named Citizen of the Year in 1981.

Loats persuaded the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Board to approve Newport’s Environmental Nature Center, which was once a gully next to Newport Harbor High School. The center celebrated its 30th year in 2005.

He served as a teacher and principal at various high schools for about 20 years.

He also served as assistant superintendent in charge of instruction at in the Newport Harbor Union High School District for four years beginning in 1961, before moving on to become the district’s superintendent. Loats served as deputy superintendent when the district merged in Newport-Mesa Unified.

The Newport Harbor High School auditorium is named in his honor.

He has spent the last 20 years raising money for the Newport Mesa Schools Foundation.

The organization provides money to augment educational programs in the district and gives grants to teachers.

“He’s very warm-hearted and superbly loyal to the causes he represents,” former Newport Beach City Manager and 1980 Citizen of the Year Robert Shelton said.

Loats served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a storekeeper and gunner aboard the USS Gambier Bay. The small aircraft carrier was sunk Oct. 25, 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which many historians recognize as the largest naval battle in history.

Loats and his shipmates survived two nights and almost three days in the shark-infested waters of the South Pacific, with only life jackets and a few rafts after an attack from a Japanese fleet.

The Chamber of Commerce will host a gala event June 11 to honor Loats as Citizen of the Year.

“There is no place like Newport Beach, what sets it apart is the philanthropic attitude of the people here” Loats said in an impromptu acceptance speech Tuesday.

“I shall give this my best shot, and when it’s all over, I hope you will say that you’ve made the right choice.”

PAST WINNERS

1949 — Robert “Bob” Murphy

1950 — Harry Welch

1951 — Robert Callis

1952 — Myford Irvine

1953 — O.W. “Dick” Richards

1954 — Dora O. Hill

1955 — Joseph A. Beek

1956 — Edward Milum, M.D.

1957 — J.L. “Les” Steffensen, James “Jim” Edwards

1958 — William “Bill” Spurgeon

1959 — David Nielsen, M.D.

1960 — Gerald Lynch

1961 — Carroll Beek

1962 — Paul A. Palmer

1963 — Dr. Basil H. Peterson

1964 — Robert Reed

1965 — Isabel Pease

1966 — Theodore Robins

1967 — John Murdy

1968 — Judge Robert Gardner, Walter Longmoor

1969 — A. Vincent Jorgenson

1970 — Fred Schope

1971 — John Macnab, Doreen Marshall

1972 — John Lawson

1973 — Phil Tozer

1974 — George Hoag

1975 — Richard “Dick” Stevens

1976 — Ray Watson

1977 — Arvo Haapa

1978 — Robert Wynn

1979 — T. Duncan Stewart

1980 — Robert Shelton

1981 — William P. Ficker, Bill Banning

1982 — Harry Babbitt

1983 — J. Peter Barrett

1984 — William D. Lusk

1985 — Charley Hester

1986 — Jackie Heather

1987 — Bob McCurdy

1988 — Hans Prager

1989 — Bill Hamilton

1990 — Paul Salata

1991/92 — Jim Dale

1992/93 — Art Gronsky

1993/94 — Bob Robins

1994/95 — Michael Stephens

1995/96 — Lucille Kuehn

1997 — Rush N. Hill, II

1998 — Marian Bergeson

1999 — Clarence “Bus” Turner

2000 — Thomas C. Edwards

2001 — Dayna Pettit

2002 — Bill Grundy

2003 — Scott Paulsen

2004 — Bill Ring

2005 — Seymour Beek

2006 — Dennis O’Neil

2007 — Evelyn Hart

2008 — Lula Halfacre

Reporter BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at brianna.bailey@latimes.com.