Robert L Wynn

Robert L. Wynn died on November 30th, 2013 from complications from a fall while at his home in Newport Beach. Born May 25, 1931 in Preston, Idaho he was fifth of the nine children of Paul R. and Mary Ellen Wynn. During the depression, his parents took in three other children to raise who lived with them all the time and were considered brothers and sisters. He recalls that they were not poor and did not know anything about the depression. His mother would patch their clothing rather than buy new ones so they just thought patched clothing was the right thing. When he was about 8 years old he was sick with Rheumatic Fever for several weeks, which in time injured his Aortic valve. He did not feel sick and lived a normal life playing basketball, football, and baseball and being the fastest kid in his Jr. High. In High School, he was not allowed to play sports because of the doctor’s recommendation regarding his heart. The day after graduation from Preston High School, he moved to the family farm and ranch in Island Park north of Ashton, Idaho to help build a hardware and furniture store.

At this time he met a cute girl named Gayle Loosli. Her father was the largest potato grower in Ashton and they lived in the nicest house in town. They dated off and on for a year before he went on his LDS mission to San Diego. He returned from his mission in 1953 and picked up where they left off and soon became serious. Gayle rejected his first proposal because he did not have a job, he did not have a college degree, and he wanted to return to San Diego. So he left for San Diego State for his Public Administration degree and after completing his junior year in 1954 returned to Ashton and proposed again and this time Gayle accepted. On August 27, 1954 they were married in the Idaho Falls Temple, honeymooned in Yellowstone and then left for San Diego in a newly purchased 1954 Bel Aire Chevrolet, a two toned hard top, blue with a white top.

Gayle, who had majored at BYU in homemaking made all the drapes and little odds and ends to make their apartment look nice. They had fun but not a lot of money. Bob was awarded a scholarship that would pay all tuition, books, and a monthly allowance of $100.00. They thought they had died and gone to heaven. He got a job at the County Assessors office and worked about 15 hours per week. The Church also asked him to teach an early morning Seminary class. The day before their first child was born, he received his Masters Degree. Gayle had picked out the name Susan if it was a girl and Steven if it was a boy. Dr. Franklin delivered Susan at 6pm on May 17, 1957.

There were 3 individuals who received their Master Degree in Public Administration in 1957, and the City Manager of San Diego offered them all a job. At the same time, a poor, small city named Imperial Beach incorporated and needed a City Manager. Bob considered taking San Diego’s offer, which provided security, or Imperial Beach, which offered organizing a new city and learning something about every phase of city government. He accepted Imperial Beach and started at a salary of $616 a month. It wasn’t very glamorous and several times, he wished he had taken the San Diego position. Slowly the city grew. The people were poor but great to work with. Surveys were sent home from school for the students to give to their parents to list the items they deemed most important and return to the city. He started working on these most important projects. Some major accomplishments during his tenure (1957-1968) there included: a new Civic Center, a Community Center, a Library, a Boys Club and a fishing pier. Steven Robert was born November 24, 1958, Christine was born May 21, 1960, Gregory Scott was born September 27, 1965 and Francine was born August 25, 1967. Five beautiful children in 10 years.”

In 1966, his heart had to be repaired and they decided to have a human transplant, which was only done at the Mayo Clinic. So they took the kids to Grandma Loosli’s and asked if she would tend them while Bob and Gayle were back at the Mayo Clinic for a few months. After recovering, one day he entered City Hall and a Councilman from Coronado was standing at the counter clipping Imperial Beach 1911 Act Bonds. He greeted him and asked why he was standing, and the councilman said no one had offered him a chair. He took him to their conference room, sat him down, and told him he could use it whenever he was clipping Imperial Beach bonds. A month later this Councilman called and asked if Bob would join him and the Coronado Mayor (Vetter) for lunch. He accepted and had no idea that the purpose of the meeting was to ask him to become the City Manager in Coronado. He told them he couldn’t accept as long as they had a City Manager. The next day they dismissed their City Manager and Mayor Vetter called and asked if he would now accept the job. He did. During his time in Coronado(1968-1971) the San Diego-Coronado Bridge was built, and the General Plan was developed.

Coronado hired a consultant, Ralph Martin, an architect from Newport Beach to help develop the General Plan. They would meet often and Ralph would tell him about the jewel of Orange County, Newport Beach. At the same time the General Plan was adopted, Bob became concerned about the drugs in Coronado High School. Sometime in June of 1971, the Mayor of Newport Beach, Ed Hirth, called and asked if he would be interested in competing for the City Manager’s position in his City. He told him yes because he could see no down side to competing. If he was selected, he could say no, if he was not selected he could stay in Coronado. He never knew how Mayor Hirth got his name. Around the first of July, the list of 20 had been reduced to him and one other City Manager. The Mayor called and set up an interview with the entire council. The council seemed reasonable except one member who kept needling him. He wanted to know about his heart surgery and he told the councilman he could pass any test required by the City. The Councilman then said “I understand you are a Mormon and don’t drink. We have a lot of parties in Newport Beach and I don’t think you could last if you didn’t join the party.” Bob became a little irritated and responded that if he didn’t drink he could always drive the councilman home after the party. He remembers going to the 4th of July parade in Coronado and watching Susan play in the band and thought what a friendly, small town atmosphere Coronado had and thought maybe it would be best to stay even if Newport Beach asked him to become their City Manager. The very next day Mayor Hirth called and offered him the job. The next day, Gayle and Bob drove to Newport Beach and they really had mixed emotions. They liked both cities. They decided to accept Mayor Hirth’s offer and move to Newport Beach. He would start August 1, 1971. Many civic events that brought him great satisfaction were the construction of the new Police Station, two libraries, the Oasis Senior Citizen Center, four new parks, rebuilding the two ocean piers, the start of Ruby's diner (a place where he would frequently dine), and having a hamburger named after him at the Cannery restaurant. Bob retired from the City of Newport Beach on December 30, 1991 and became a private consultant for municipal projects. Some of his projects included One Ford Road, Spanish Hills Golf Course, Milpitas Shopping Mall, and the Newport Beach LDS temple. His wife Gayle passed away in December 1993. He retired from his private consulting business in 2005. Bob received many awards and appointments throughout his life which included: Former president of both the San Diego and Orange County City Managers’ Associations, Boy's Club of America "Golden Boy" award, former director of the Hoag Hospital Heart Institute, Newport Beach Citizen of the Year awarded by the Chamber of Commerce and the Lion's Club, and "Ethics in America Achievement Award" from Chapman University.

Robert is survived by his five children: Susan Paullin (Craig, and their children, Annie, Ryan, Clay, and Cole), Steve Wynn (Janine, and their children, Patrick, Nicholas, Kate, and Laura), Chris Okazaki (Robert, and their children, Matthew {Ally}, Andrew, and William), Greg Wynn (Susan, and their children, Adam, Hayley, Scott, Kathryn, and Elizabeth) and Franny Wynn.

The memorial service will be Saturday, December 7, 2013, at 1:00 p.m. at the LDS Newport Beach Stake Center, 2150 Bonita Canyon Drive, Newport Beach, California.