Sydney Giddens; Burbank Electrician

Sydney Giddens, an electrician who ran his own business in Burbank for 45 years and served on the city Building and Fire Code Appeals Board, died Tuesday of cancer at age 79, his wife, Evelyn Giddens, said.

Born April 25, 1911, in San Francisco, he moved to Los Angeles as a child and graduated from Manual Arts High School. He served in the merchant marine and later worked as a waiter and steward on the SS Lurline from 1937 to 1941 and as an electrician for Stolpher Electric in Burbank from 1941 to 1945. He took electrical and management classes at USC and Frank Wiggins Trade School, now called Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.

In 1945, he opened Syds Electric Co. in Burbank, which he continued to operate until he died.

Giddens was appointed by the Burbank City Council to the Building and Fire Code Appeals Board from 1961 to 1965 and from 1983 until the present. He was also a member of the Burbank Democratic Club and sponsored several youth baseball teams and adult bowling leagues in Burbank.

He is survived by his wife of 26 years; sons Alan Giddens of Burbank and Gerald Giddens of La Canada; stepsons Maynard Davis of Burbank, Stephen Davis of Chapel Hill, N.C., and David Davis of Knoxville, Tenn.; sister Clara Holtzclaw of Pasadena; brother Frank Giddens of Seattle, Wash.; nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

A funeral is scheduled at 11:30 a.m. today at the Old North Church at Forest Lawn Memorial Park-Hollywood Hills, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, in Los Angeles, with burial to follow. A reception is planned afterward at the First United Methodist Church of Burbank, 700 N. Glenoaks Blvd. Forest Lawn Mortuary-Hollywood Hills is handling the arrangements. Donations can be made in Giddens’ name to the Tri-Valley Special Olympics, 1431 N. Buena Vista St., Burbank, 91505.