Roy E. Reynolds, Civic Leader, 1st Norwalk Mayor, Dies at 64

Roy E. Reynolds, the first mayor of Norwalk and one of the leaders in the city’s push for incorporation 30 years ago, died Tuesday in a Long Beach hospital from complications stemming from cancer. He was 64 and had been in poor health since he retired a year ago.

Reynolds, who was born in Kansas Nov. 22, 1922, moved to Southern California in 1949 and a year later opened an accounting business in Norwalk, Roy E. Reynolds & Associates.

Reynolds played a key role in Norwalk’s development, serving as co-chairman of a cityhood drive, and was Norwalk’s first mayor from 1957 to 1960. He did not seek reelection.

Reynolds also sat on the Norwalk school board for eight years, serving as board president twice. He was the founding president of the California Contract Cities Assn. and in 1968 was appointed by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan to serve on the state Board of Accountancy, an oversight commission that monitors the accounting profession. He was also a longtime member of the Norwalk Rotary Club.

A fighter pilot in World War II, he flew 66 missions in the South Pacific as a member of the then-Army Air Corps.

Reynolds is survived by his wife, Mary Lou, and two children, Michael and Susan. Memorial services will be held at 7 p.m. Monday at the First Methodist Church, 12111 Olive St., Norwalk.