Robert N. Mahon; One of Camarillo’s Founders

Robert N. Mahon, a longtime bank manager regarded as one of the founding fathers of Camarillo, died Monday at his Camarillo home after a long illness. He was 85.

He was born Nov. 20, 1911, in Santa Paula to Horatio and Mary Mahon.

Mahon graduated from UCLA in 1933 and joined the Bank of America that same year as a messenger. He continued working for the company until 1976.

He built his Camarillo home in 1947, the year he opened the first Bank of America branch in the community, which at the time boasted a population of less than 1,300.

“There were just a few business people here and the bank was at the hub of it,” recalled Gerald C. Joseph, the brother of the late Earl Joseph, who was Camarillo’s first mayor and a good friend of Mahon. “He was the [financial] source here.”

As manager of the community’s lone bank, Mahon extended loans not only for many of Camarillo’s first businesses, but the city itself.

Upon Camarillo’s incorporation in 1964, the bank extended a $20,000 loan to Camarillo for start-up costs, said Mayor Stanley Daily, who won election to the inaugural City Council at the age of 28.

“He supported me in every election,” Daily said. “We certainly appreciated his efforts in trying to make the city go, so to speak, in the creation phase. He was always a staunch supporter of the city.”

Mahon was a board member of the Camarillo Sanitation District at the time it was acquired by the city in 1967. He was also instrumental in the financing of the Calleguas Municipal Water District in 1953, which now serves more than 600,000 Ventura County residents.

Mahon was honored in 1985 by the Camarillo Historical Society and given the title “Don of Camarillo.” The honor is reserved for members of pioneering families or longtime residents, said Daily, who was a member of the society’s selection committee.

Mahon’s survivors include his wife, Verda; sister, Lucille Mayea of Camarillo; brother, Ray Mahon of Los Angeles; daughters-in-law and sons Jackie and Robert Mahon Jr. of Camarillo, and Janet and John Mahon of Oak View; seven grandchildren; and two great grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at United Methodist Church, 291 Anacapa Drive, Camarillo. Memorial donations may be made to the church.

Burial will be at Santa Paula Cemetery. Ojai’s Clausen Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.