Pioneer Oilman, Rancher Dies at 92 : George G. Key Was One of Last Orange Growers

Placentia native George Gilman Key, who was one of the last orange growers in the county, died Monday night at St. Jude Hospital, relatives said Tuesday. He was 92 and had been hospitalized for more than a week with pneumonia.

Key was born in 1896 on a ranch that was owned by the Southern California Semi-Tropical Fruit Co., where his father, George Benn Key, worked as its first superintendent. In 1898, his father built the family home, which is part of the historic George Key Ranch.

Key moved to the Torrance and Lomita area in 1923 after serving in the Merchant Marine. He supervised oil drilling and production in Atwood, Huntington Beach, Long Beach and Signal Hill for several oil companies.

After retiring in 1945, Key and his wife, Hannah, moved back to the family’s 20-acre ranch, which had been divided among family members. Soon afterward, he bought out his brother and six sisters, becoming sole owner.

After the decline of the citrus industry in the 1960s, Key sold most of the property, saving 2.2 acres for himself and his wife.

“He held out longer than any other grower in the area,” said Linda Lorenzi, who has been the park ranger at the ranch for 4 years. She added that Key collected some of the antique farm equipment now on display at the ranch.

In 1980, Key sold the ranch to the county for $325,000 on the condition that he and his wife could live there for the rest of their lives. Hannah Key died in 1983 after more than 60 years of marriage.

Key also donated his collection of artifacts, which is on display in two sheds and in the 3,800-square-foot, post-Victorian-style house.

“He was a wonderful person,” Lorenzi said. “He had an incredible knowledge of history. He wrote a book (titled “Early Placentia”) that we had published for him for his 90th birthday.”

Besides his interest in the ranch, Key was heavily involved in the community. He volunteered many hours with the local Boy Scouts and the YMCA, and was an elder of the Placentia Presbyterian Church.

He had been honored many times by Placentia and the county, including the naming of a school for retarded children after him in 1979. He was made honorary mayor of Placentia in 1977, and received an award of merit from the Orange County Historical Society in 1971.

“He was great father and very generous,” his son, George Jr., said Tuesday. “He could do a varity of things. He liked new challenges, and he liked people. Even up to the last day he was smiling and talking with his family and friends.”

Key, who outlived his brother and sisters, said in a 1984 interview, “I tell ‘em I’m the only apple left hanging on the tree and I’m . . . ready to fall.”

A private graveside ceremony will be conducted Saturday at Loma Vista Memorial Park in Fullerton. There will also be a memorial service at the Placentia Presbyterian Church at 4 p.m. Sunday.

Key is survived by his daughter, Dorothy Jensen, 69; his son, George Jr., 67; five grandchildren, and 11 great-grand children.