Donald Wilson, 65; Former Torrance City Clerk and School Board Member

Donald E. Wilson, a former school board member, four-term councilman and city clerk in Torrance, died of bone cancer Sunday at Torrance Memorial Hospital. He was 65 and had retired as city clerk Nov. 11 because of illness.

An ordained minister in the Church of Christ and a former elementary school teacher, Wilson was director of teacher education at USC from 1955 to 1986. He also was a member of the Southern California Coastal Commission from 1973 to 1980.

Born and reared in Colorado, he served in the Navy and received a bachelor’s degree in education at Central Missouri State College, graduating after only 2 1/2 years. He then went to UCLA, where he earned his teaching credentials, a master’s degree and eventually a doctorate. He was a professor of education at Chapman College and director of student teaching at Cal State San Diego before taking the USC position.

Wilson served as a Torrance Unified School District trustee for four years before he was elected to the City Council in 1968.

During 16 years on the council, Wilson was a strong advocate of the preservation of open land. He also supported federally subsidized housing for the poor in the city, an unpopular position that prompted a recall drive against him in 1980. It failed.

Wilson decided in 1984 not to seek reelection to the council, but two years later was elected city clerk, a full-time position, and resigned from USC.

Under his leadership, the clerk’s office was recognized in 1987 by the City Clerks’ Assn. of California for “excellence and innovation in organization and administration.”

Survivors include his wife, Doris; a son, John Michael; two daughters, Pamela Idler and Donna Hansen; two stepchildren, John Hull Jr. and Doris Gonzales; a sister, Thelma Buxton; three brothers, Clinton, Kenneth and Harold, and nine grandchildren.

Services will be private. A memorial will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at First Christian Church at 2930 El Dorado St. in Torrance.