HUNTINGTON BEACH : City May Honor Lifeguard Pioneer

City officials have given initial approval to a request to establish a memorial for lifeguard pioneer Vincent G. Moorhouse, who is credited with transforming the local lifeguard service, which had a beach-bum image, to a professional outfit whose techniques for surf rescues have been adopted around the world.

The City Council’s approval last week clears the way for private fund-raising efforts, an organizer said.

The memorial, in the form of a monument that includes a bronze plaque topped with a sculpture of a pelican, probably will be placed next to the beachfront lifeguard headquarters also named in honor of Moorhouse, after his death in January at the age of 60.

The memorial is expected to be installed after the beach is refurbished, in about two years.

Moorhouse began a 35-year career in marine safety in Huntington Beach when he served as a lifeguard in the summer of 1949. He retired in 1984 as director of community services.

Shari Donoho, an administrative assistant in the city who worked with Moorhouse while recruiting people for his lifeguard department, has been the leader of the memorial drive.

“I didn’t even know about all his lifesaving leadership then,” Donoho said. “I just knew that he was unique, a very strong, fair man. For him, there was only one way to do things, and that was the right way.”

Lifeguard Lt. Steve Davidson, who joined the department in 1967, said that Moorhouse modernized and professionalized the lifeguard service. He introduced a technique called perimeter defense in which other lifeguard towers, rescue boats and vehicles could be dispatched rapidly by radio to hard-hit surf areas.

Lifeguards from around the world were frequent visitors and took the lifesaving techniques to countries around the world, Davidson said.

The fact that local lifeguards performed more than 2,200 rescues without a drowning on the 3.2 miles of city beach last year is a Moorhouse legacy, Davidson said.

Moorhouse was one of the founders of the National Surf Lifesaving Assn., known today as the United States Lifesaving Assn.

After retiring from the city in 1984, Moorhouse moved to Montana, where he suffered a fatal heart attack in January.