Retired Board Chairman of Bixby Ranch Co. : Water Import Pioneer Preston Hotchkis

Preston Hotchkis, pioneer Southland leader and retired board chairman of Bixby Ranch Co., the land-development group, died late Wednesday at his home in San Marino, his family said. He was 95.

Hotchkis was an early exponent of importing sorely needed water to the Los Angeles area. As the first president of the Colorado River Assn. and chairman of the Southland Water Committee, Hotchkis advocated the transfer of Colorado River water to Southern California. The move was credited with helping the area realize its economic potential.

He also helped pass a controversial voter initiative to approve bond financing for construction of the California Aqueduct from the northern part of the state. He served as director of the Metropolitan Water District from 1975 to 1986.

Friend of Presidents

Hotchkis, a lifelong Republican and a friend of Presidents and presidential candidates dating to the 1930s, was a delegate to the party conventions that nominated Wendell L. Willkie, Thomas E. Dewey, Dwight D. Eisenhower and Richard M. Nixon. Hotchkis was U.S. representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council under Eisenhower in 1954-55.

Hotchkis’ proximity to the powerful was reflected in a note he sent to then-President-elect Ronald Reagan.

In a January, 1981, Times story, Hotchkis told how he mailed an anecdote to Reagan hoping to give him comfort in the anxious and lonely times he would encounter during his Administration. It became the famous story Reagan used in his inaugural address.

It came from the pages of a diary carried by a U.S. soldier killed in World War I. Under the heading, “My Pledge,” a young private, Martin Treptow, had written: “America must win this war. Therefore I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone.” It was a quote Hotchkis said he had used himself in speeches.

Hotchkis was born in Los Angeles and remained a resident most of his life. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 1916. After Navy service during World War I, he studied law at USC. He was admitted to the California Bar in 1920.

As a lawyer and a businessman, he helped found Pacific Finance Corp. in 1920, Pacific Indemnity Co. in 1926 and Founders Insurance Co. in 1946.

Hotchkis served as a San Marino city councilman, a regent of the University of California, president of the UC Alumni Assn., president and director of the California State Chamber of Commerce and vice president of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.

Member of Clubs

He was a member of the California and University clubs in Los Angeles and the Valley Hunt Club in Pasadena.

He married Katherine Bixby in 1923. After her death in 1979, he married Georgina Hicks Mage in 1981. He is survived by his wife, four children from his first marriage, 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Feb. 7 at St. Edmund’s Church, 1175 San Gabriel Blvd. in San Marino.