Visit by Humphrey’s Son Called Unlikely

Despite the hopes of local business leaders, Minnesota Atty. Gen. Hubert Humphrey III will not visit the Valley to help rededicate the park named for his father, Hubert H. Humphrey, who served as vice president under President Lyndon B. Johnson.

A Humphrey spokeswoman on Monday said the attorney general’s schedule was booked. “In addition to being attorney general, he’s also running for governor,” said Holly Ziemer. “Something could change, but I kind of doubt it.”

Edward Kussman, president of the Pacoima Chamber of Commerce, said in early July that he hoped Humphrey could attend a rededication ceremony planned for this month or September.

A ceremony with other dignitaries may still be held at the park--located at Dronfield Avenue and Filmore Street--in the near future, Kussman said.

The event would symbolize recent efforts to improve safety at Hubert H. Humphrey Memorial Park, the site of a shooting last August that killed ex-Kennedy High School football star Jaret Harris.

Hubert H. Humphrey served as vice president from 1963 to 1969. Officials renamed North Pacoima Park in his honor shortly after Humphrey died in 1978.

Along with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, Hubert Humphrey III helped broker a $6.6 billion settlement in a lawsuit against the tobacco industry this spring.