Tireless Advocate for Rights of Disabled

Ron Mincer has been in a wheelchair almost half of his 55 years, but he hasn’t let it get in his way.

After his wife, Gail, helps him get ready in the morning, he loads his wheelchair in his Oldsmobile and takes off for the day, visiting developers, architects, building officials and the many nonprofit groups for whom he volunteers.

Mincer, a quadriplegic, works about 60 hours a week and drives about 60,000 miles a year in his quest to see that buildings meet federal and state accessibility codes for the disabled.

For some of his work, he charges a nominal fee through the nonprofit Disabled Access Consultants, which he founded. But mostly what he does is on a volunteer basis.

He serves on more than 15 commissions, boards and task forces that work for disabled rights. They include Samadana, a housing and care program for abused and disabled children, the Orange County Disabled Housing Committee and the Orange County Transit Department’s disabled advisory board.

Right now, one of his pet projects is Access Irvine, a Dayle McIntosh Center venture that will offer 42 low-rent apartments for the disabled.

“He’s wonderful. He’s very knowledgeable and professional in everything he does, and yet he is extremely easy to work with,” said Peg Hall, community relations director for the Dayle McIntosh Center. “He doesn’t have an ego that gets in the way. He’s a very unassuming person.”

Mincer also is an advocate for improving recreation opportunities for the disabled. Twelve years ago, he founded the Junior Disabled Learn to Fish Assn., which takes hundreds of youngsters fishing at Irvine Lake or the lakes by the Santa Ana River each year.

“Groups would take disabled children out for hot dogs, sodas and chips, which are bad for them anyway, and then forget about them the rest of the year,” Mincer said. Sometimes disabled children are not integrated into the rest of the family, and Mincer said he wanted to show parents that with some modifications, children could participate in many activities.

Mincer has been quadriplegic since he was 28, when he fell asleep at the wheel, his car flipped and he broke his neck. The accident left him with only partial use of his arms and no use of his fingers. While the change in lifestyle might have left some people bitter, Mincer said he indulged in that state for about 15 minutes and then went on with his life.

“It’s like anything else,” he said. “If you decide it’s a challenge, you can make it. I figured I always had confidence I would make it one way or another.”

After the accident, Mincer earned a degree in sociology from Cal State Long Beach and became involved with the Disabled Students Assn., which got him interested in working with a community access program of the State Department of Rehabilitation.

Born in Iowa, Mincer has lived in San Juan Capistrano since 1969. He and wife Gail have three children, Stephen, 23, Christian, 18, and Matthew, 13.

Ron Mincer, 55

Occupation: Occupational consultant

Organization: Dayle McIntosh Center, Disabled Access Consultants and other groups

Address: Disabled Access Consultants, 27932 Calle Belmonte, San Juan Capistrano, Calif. 92675 (714) 496-7591; Dayle McIntosh Center, 150 W. Cerritos Ave., Building 4, Anaheim, Calif. 92805. (714) 772-8285.