Walter Hahn; Ex-City Manager of San Diego
Walter H. Hahn, former city manager of San Diego who spent his entire career in urban planning and management in California, has died. He was 82.
Hahn died Wednesday in Healdsburg, Calif., where he had lived since the death of his wife, Marion, in 1985.
Hired by San Diego as assistant city manager in 1962, Hahn was promoted to the top job in 1966. He retired in 1972 “in the interest of my own health” after a series of severe headaches that he attributed to job stress. The San Diego City Retirement Board denied him a disability pension, but the Superior Court granted it.
A native of San Francisco, Hahn attended UC Berkeley, community colleges in Modesto and Sacramento, and graduated from USC in 1951 along with his son Kurt. After early jobs as an engineer with the state Division of Highways, he was road coordinator and planning adviser of Solano County for seven years.
From 1945 to 1951, Hahn was a principal planner with the firm of Hahn, Campbell & Wise, which pioneered urban planning and prepared early master plans for dozens of cities and counties in the state.
After earning his college degree, Hahn became city manager of Monterey, remaining until 1956, when he was hired as chief administrative officer of Inglewood.
Memorial services are scheduled Sunday in Healdsburg and on Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. at the Merkeley Mitchell Mortuary in San Diego.
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