Warren Crowell; Civic Leader Who Founded Brokerage Firm

Warren H. Crowell, a native of Los Angeles who helped found Southern California’s largest independent investment firm and became an honored civic leader and philanthropist, has died, his family said Sunday. He was 84.

Crowell died in his sleep at his Bel-Air home on Friday, according to his son, Donald.

“It was unexpected,” said the son, who has held the reins of the family business, Crowell Weedon & Co., since the mid-1960s. “He had not been sick. He was just a little long in years.”

Crowell attended Los Angeles High School and enrolled at UCLA in 1923, spending his first year at the school’s original campus on Vermont Avenue before becoming a member of one of the inaugural classes at the Westwood campus.

His days at UCLA left their mark on Crowell. He later donated countless hours to the school, serving as president of the Alumni Assn. and a member of the UC Board of Regents. In 1959, Crowell was named UCLA alumnus of the year.

After graduating as an economics major, Crowell swiftly focused his career on the stock market. In the depths of the Depression in 1932, Crowell joined with George Weedon, a colleague from another stock brokerage house, and founded the firm that bears their name. The company quickly rose to a position of prominence among the independently operated investment houses in Los Angeles.

An imposing figure at 6-foot-3, Crowell was a member of the New York Stock Exchange, vice chairman of the Investment Bankers Assn. of America (now known as the Securities Industry Assn.), and vice chairman of the National Assn. of Securities Dealers. He also served as board chairman for the Los Angeles Stock Exchange, which was later renamed the Pacific Stock Exchange.

Besides his business accomplishments, Crowell served for more than half a century as a board director for the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles. He held the title of chairman emeritus when he died.

Crowell also served on the boards of Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital and John Tracy Clinic. He was a building founder of the Los Angeles Music Center and a founding member of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

In addition to his son, Crowell is survived by his wife, Dorothy, and two grandsons, Donald Jr. and Andrew. Funeral services will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles.