William Horton, New Stanton Councilman, Dies

Councilman William H. Horton, who won election in November, died early Tuesday of an aorta failure.

Horton, who was 59, was pronounced dead at 5:38 a.m. at the Humana Hospital-West Anaheim, according to a coroner’s report.

An autopsy showed that Horton’s aorta burst because the blood vessel’s wall had weakened. The problem, called an aneurysm, is not easily detectable, a coroner’s investigator said.

Horton’s wife, Joanne, said: “I heard him fall out of bed, and I went to him. I think he was gone by the time I got to him. It was that fast.”

Joanne Horton said police and firefighters responded quickly to her 911 call. Firefighters, however, were unable to revive him, Fire Chief Jerry Hunter said.

Joanne Horton, 60, said her husband had no history of heart trouble. “He could have been standing with a doctor right over him, and it would have happened,” she said.

Horton, a body-shop manager, was elected to City Council in the Nov. 3 election, placing second in the race for two seats. He was seated on the council Nov. 24.

“It was just a shock to everyone,” said City Clerk Darleen Cordova, who swore Horton in as a council member. “He wanted to be a really good councilman.”

Cordova said Horton is the first council member to die in office since the city was incorporated in 1956.

Cordova said the city will either appoint someone to fill Horton’s seat or hold an election.

Horton, who moved to Stanton in 1979, had held no other public office in the city.

“It was nice to have somebody from a businessman’s perspective,” Councilman Harry Dotson said. “He had some desires to help us get over these financial problems we have. That was what he was really concerned about.”

Bob Burge, a co-worker, has known Horton since the early 1950s, when both men worked in a body shop in Michigan. Burge called Horton “good people” and said “he was a very great man.”

“It always seemed like we just wound up together,” Burge said. He was hired by Horton to work with him at the body shop of the Browning Oldsmobile Group, in the Cerritos Auto Mall. Funeral arrangements were pending, but one of Horton’s daughters, Shawn Archibald of Santa Ana, said services will be held sometime this weekend, probably at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress.

In addition to his wife and daughter, Horton is survived by two sons, Richard Horton of Cypress and Scott Bush of Santa Ana; three other daughters, Coleen Stephenson, Renee Hamilton, and LeDonna Ohmer, all of South Lyon, Mich; and eight grandchildren.