* Harry Sheldon; Neighborhood Watch Activist
Harry G. Sheldon, who helped organize three Neighborhood Watch programs and was honored last year for his efforts by the Greater Glendale Council on Aging, has died at a Burbank hospital. He was 80.
Sheldon died Friday of heart failure, said his daughter, Mary Dunne.
Born in Montpelier, Vt., Sheldon came to California in 1937 and was hired at Lockheed Corp. in Burbank, working until his retirement in 1973 as a maintenance mechanic supervisor. Sheldon got involved in the Neighborhood Watch program in Glendale after his son-in-law, Sgt. Don Sowma of the Cypress Police Department, was killed in 1976 while investigating a burglary.
Sheldon received an Outstanding Volunteer Recognition Award in May from the Greater Glendale Council on Aging and also received a commendation from Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich.
He was a member of the Glendale Citizens for Law and Order, and the Knights of Columbus and St. Vincent De Paul Society, Holy Family chapters.
He is survived by wife of 56 years, Irene B. Sheldon of Glendale; son Jack Sheldon of Sun Valley; daughters Rosaline Buchanan of Glendale, Mary Dunne of Whittier, Gloria Golden of Thousand Oaks and Colleen Sowma of La Mirada; sister Wilma Kildare of Pacoima; 15 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
A funeral Mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. today at Holy Family Catholic Church, 209 E. Lomita Ave., Glendale. Burial will follow at San Fernando Mission Cemetery in Mission Hills. Woods Glendale Mortuary is handling the arrangements. Donations can be made in Sheldon’s name to the American Heart Assn.
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