William Frederickson Jr.; L.A. Parks Manager

William Frederickson Jr., former general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks who helped create the zoo and Travel Town in Griffith Park, died Thursday. He was 85.

Frederickson worked 45 years for the department and served under the administrations of mayors Fletcher Bowron, Norris Poulson, Sam Yorty and Tom Bradley. He retired in 1975 after heading the department for 13 years.

During his tenure as manager, the city park system added 2,200 acres of parkland and spent $40 million for capital improvements--considered a huge sum at the time.

The 1966 opening of the rejuvenated Los Angeles Zoo--with its natural-like habitats and moats instead of bars around most of its 3,000 animals--was one of the highlights of his career.

But Frederickson also savored smaller victories--such as the 1973 acquisition of 37-acre Serrania Park in suburban Woodland Hills for $310,000, something he had sought for 10 years for an area that had never enjoyed a neighborhood park.

Frederickson had his share of struggles, too. In the early 1970s, controversy surrounded a proposal for his department to swap land with Occidental Petroleum Corp. for an oil drilling site in Pacific Palisades. And he had to scramble in 1974 to prevent budget cuts from slicing programs at 41 city recreation centers.

“I can honestly say there has never been a dull moment,” Frederickson said shortly before he retired.

His long career with the parks agency included stints as a swimming instructor and maintenance supervisor.

Frederickson began in 1930 as a part-time director of the department’s picnic bureau whose job was to take a “picnic kit” around to various recreation centers. The kit contained horseshoes, bats, balls and other game equipment.

Then a UCLA student and campus water polo star, Frederickson recalled feeling lucky to have that job in the depths of the Depression. “They were selling apples on the streets and there were long food lines,” he said.

Frederickson retired to Newport Beach, where he had lived since 1960. He bought a small sailboat and served as a member of the city’s Planning Commission until 1979.

He is survived by a son, William Frederickson III of Newport Beach, a daughter, Johanna Peters of Thousand Oaks, and five grandchildren. His ashes will be scattered at sea, along with those of his late wife, Betsy.