Temple City Councilman Jack Tyrell Dies

Memorial services are scheduled Saturday for Jack Tyrell, a founder of Temple City and a member of the City Council since its incorporation in 1960.

Tyrell died Monday at Methodist Hospital of Southern California in Arcadia after a two-year bout with cancer, city spokeswoman Mary Wilford said. He was 64.

Tyrell attended his last council meeting on Sept. 17, Wilford said. He entered the hospital on Sept. 30 in grave condition and slipped into a coma a few days later, she said. A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, 416 N. Garfield Ave., Alhambra. Funeral services will be private.

A powerful force on the council who led the drive for incorporation, Tyrell was a key proponent of purchasing a county engineering building that recently was converted to a City Hall complex and helped negotiate the deal, Wilford said. He also started several public safety programs.

“He was a positive, dynamic individual,” Councilman Kenneth Gillanders said. “Certainly, he always put the best interests of the community at the front, whether it was popular or not.”

Tyrell, a trial attorney who practiced in the area for more than 30 years, often led the questioning at public hearings. “He was all business in the City Council meetings,” Gillanders said. “He had a lawyer’s approach to things, an analytical mind.”

Besides his wife, Tyrell is survived by his mother, Ruth; a daughter, Sandra; two sons, Jon and Randy, and a grandson, Joshua.