‘Lagunatic’ Harry Moon Jr. Dies : Obituary: Widely known ex-restaurateur was avidly involved in his city’s business and environmental issues.

Community activist Harry Ansel Moon Jr., former owner of the Cottage Restaurant and one of this city’s best-known residents, died Monday of heart failure after a long bout with Parkinson’s disease. He was 64.

Moon, who labeled himself a “Lagunatic” because of his passion for the city where he lived for 36 years, was an avid supporter of the local business and environmental communities. Civic groups used his restaurant regularly for fund-raisers.

Friends say Moon, who was named Laguna Beach’s Citizen of the Year in 1987, was a tenacious problem-solver.

“Harry gave the meaning to the word Lagunatic ,” said attorney Don Black, who served with Moon on the local Chamber of Commerce. “Harry was always willing to help. And no matter how dismal the problem, Harry had a solution for it. We’re going to miss him.”

Moon’s sister, Helen Anne Tenuta of San Juan Capistrano, said one wall in Moon’s Laguna Terrace mobile home was covered with awards and commendations from various civic groups. And City Clerk Verna Rollinger said Moon distinguished himself by embracing a wide range of local concerns.

“Perhaps you could say he was one of a kind in that he was a successful downtown business person and a strong environmentalist, and he understood the need for both and worked diligently to see that Laguna had everything,” Rollinger said.

“He was always willing to lend his restaurant for fund-raisers for practically every organization in town--the Community Clinic, the Hortense Miller Gardens, Laguna Greenbelt and many others, I’m sure,” she said.

Moon was active in the Laguna Beach Free Clinic--now the Community Clinic--from its inception and served on its board. But perhaps his greatest passion, those who knew him said, was the issue of transportation.

He served on the Orange County Transit District’s citizens’ advisory committee for a decade, as well as the city’s Parking, Traffic and Circulation Committee. He hosted annual breakfasts at his restaurant on transportation, offering up a range of ideas on electric cars, rails and trams to try to solve the growing transit crunch in Laguna Beach and the region.

“He was a champion of transportation,” City Councilwoman Martha Collison recalled. “He had the ability to let his mind expand on all the alternatives instead of letting it be confined to just one or two.”

Sometimes, Moon’s efforts touched people in personal ways.

Years ago, Moon befriended Eiler Larsen--the famed “Laguna Greeter”--regularly gave him a free breakfast at the Cottage Restaurant, named a pancake selection after him and even held a fund-raiser to allow him to return to his native Scandinavia, Moon’s sister said. Pictures of the Greeter still adorn the restaurant wall.

Moon, who was born in Pasadena on April 15, 1927, moved to Laguna Beach in 1956 and in 1964 opened what was to become one of the city’s most popular restaurants.

In 1979, he was found to have Parkinson’s disease, a condition that had worsened in recent years, Tenuta said. He sold the business in 1988.

Recently, Moon spent two weeks at South Coast Medical Center in Laguna Beach. He was later admitted to Ahimsa Care Center in Laguna Beach, where he stayed for three days until he died about noon Monday, Tenuta said.

Moon is survived by Tenuta and two other sisters, Edith Abbie Trone of Glendora and Harriet Ada Bailey of El Monte.

The Cottage Restaurant will host a public memorial service for Moon next Tuesday at 2 p.m. There will be no funeral.