Farewell to a ‘Man of the People’

A rainbow of “Kenny’s people” showed up Thursday at a Lawndale mortuary to pay their final respects to their beloved friend, former Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn.

Blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians--some attired in Sunday finery and others in T-shirts, baseball caps and shorts--each spent a moment at the open casket, which was draped with the county flag that Hahn designed.

They said there will never be another friend, let alone politician, like Kenny Hahn, who died Sunday at age 77.

“Simply put,” said beer executive Edison Lara, “he was a man of the people. He had concern for all the people. It didn’t matter if you were white, black, brown, blue or green.”

A crowd of about 50 people were waiting at 2 p.m. when the seven hours of public viewing began at the Pierce Brothers Del Fox Mortuary on Marine Avenue. Quiet piano music played in the background. A steady stream of mourners appeared, some of them offering a special word for Hahn’s son, James, the Los Angeles city attorney, and daughter Janice, who came by for several hours to receive friends.

By 9 p.m., when the viewing ended, hundreds of people had paid their respects.

It seemed that many wore a smile as they strode up to see “Kenny,” who, they quickly discovered, was wearing a county lapel pin depicting the seal he also had created. A folded American flag rested by his head.

Some had a comment or two for their old friend.

“Got anything to say, Kenny?” one person quietly asked. After a few moments, the friend, an African American, laughed, “Yeah, yeah. I hear you, Kenny.”

Hahn’s nurse, Mattie Smith, who cared for him after his 1987 stroke, alternately cried and laughed as she lingered over his casket.

“Well, Boss,” she finally said, “I told you you weren’t Jesus Christ. . . .”

With that, she left, wiping away more tears.

Still more came and left quickly. One UPS driver stopped for a brief moment before continuing his deliveries.

The things for which Hahn, who was elected 10 times as a supervisor, was famous--freeway call boxes, creation of the paramedic system and establishment of Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center--didn’t even begin to tell the whole story, those who came to pay their respects said.

To Lawndale resident Archie Thompson, Hahn was instrumental in putting street lights on Marine Avenue. “Couldn’t have done it without him,” Thompson said.

For Ronnie Manson, also of Lawndale, it was Hahn’s warmth that convinced him and other amateur ham radio operators to volunteer when disasters struck in the area. “He always thanked me for the work I’d put in,” said Manson, who was also impressed by Hahn’s support of the homeless.

Jim Dear, an official with the Carson Chamber of Commerce, was grateful that Hahn recognized his mother’s efforts to build a library and spread the gospel of reading. Because of Hahn’s efforts, Gardena’s main library is named after Dear’s mother, he said.

“He was my supervisor when I was born,” Dear said. “Kenny Hahn’s policies and views have guided me ever since.”

Hahn was elected county supervisor in 1952 and retired in 1992. His 2nd District included South Los Angeles and surrounding blue-collar communities.

Even among Hahn’s admirers, not all were sure they could bring themselves to go to the mortuary Thursday.

Wini Jackson, a longtime county employee, can go on and on about Hahn. “Most of today’s politicians are not in a serving mode,” she said. “[Hahn] was deep. He was in people’s churches, schools, libraries, walking up and down the street, asking, ‘What’s your issue?’ ”

Jackson initially said she was too depressed to go to the viewing.

“I can’t bring myself to go,” she said in a phone interview from her home in South Los Angeles. “It hurts too much.”

Later in the evening, however, Jackson appeared but could not go near Hahn’s wooden casket. She stayed at the rear of the mortuary crying.

Funeral services for Hahn will be at 10 a.m. today at the Crenshaw Christian Center, the former site of Pepperdine University, at 7901 S. Vermont Ave.

Because Vice President Al Gore is expected to attend, people are advised to arrive early.

Interment, which will be private, will follow at Inglewood Park Cemetery.

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On Thursday, everyone at the mortuary had a story to tell about “Kenny.”

Fire historian Raul Moreno, who wore a county Fire Department cap, remembered his first meeting with Hahn. In 1979, as a high school student, Moreno was participating in an area parade when he spied the venerable supervisor enjoying the festivities.

“I went up to him and he said, ‘Hi, I’m Kenny Hahn,’ ” Moreno recalled.

They had a lengthy conversation as Hahn made small talk, thrilling the young Moreno that he was actually talking to the famous lawmaker.

“Years later, I saw him again and I asked if he remembered,” Moreno recalled. “He said, ‘Yeah, you’re that high school student at the parade.’ That meant a lot to me and it told me a lot about him.”