Memorial Scheduled for Edward A. Hart

Memorial services will be held Wednesday for Edward A. Hart, founding president of Irvine Valley College.

Hart, 61, died Sunday of cerebral lymphoma at his Dana Point home after a yearlong illness, a Saddleback Community College District spokeswoman said Monday.

Hart came to the Saddleback District in 1975 from Chabot College in Hayward. As assistant superintendent, he oversaw long-range planning for the fast-growing district, and in particular the transformation of an orange grove at Jeffrey Road and Irvine Center Drive into California’s 106th community college.

Hart took over what was then called Saddleback College’s North Campus when it opened in 1979 with 1,500 students. The college was renamed Irvine Valley College when it gained its independence in 1985. It now has more than 7,700 students and is projected to serve about 25,000 within the next 10 years.

The college’s soon-to-be-built gymnasium will be named for Hart, who retired in 1986.

“Ed was tenacious and determined in his goal to establish a college for the northern part of the Saddleback Community College District,” longtime Saddleback trustee Harriett Walther said.

“And it was that same tenacity that kept him alive during his last illness. . . . Some people saw Ed as a tough taskmaster, but in fact, he was a very sentimental and caring person.”

He is survived by his wife, Josephine, and their two sons and three daughters.

Services will be at 11 a.m. in building A300 on the Irvine campus.