Obituaries : Les H. Maland; Former Mayor of Santa Paula

Former Santa Paula Mayor Les H. Maland, who sat on the City Council for more than two decades and was instrumental in establishing the city’s memorial to war veterans, died Friday in a local hospital. He was 76.

His wife of 54 years, June, said Maland died from complications of a stroke. “It was just right out of the blue,” she said.

Maland was born in Fargo, N.D., and lived in Ventura County for 60 years.

“He moved here from Bakersfield and started [at] Santa Paula High School his senior year,” June said. “Believe or not, he won the presidency of the student body, and little ol’ me, I came along as Girls League president.”

The couple had been together ever since and were married in San Jose in 1943. “He called me ‘Bug,’ like June bug, and I called him ‘Chick,’ ” said June, a Santa Paula native. “For the life of me, I don’t know where I got that.”

Maland earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from UC Berkeley in 1948 and a master’s degree in engineering from UCLA in 1966. From 1948 to 1962, he owned a construction and demolition business.

In addition to graduating with honors from Berkeley, he was a member and president of several honor societies. He was a staff civil engineer with Point Mugu Navy base and director of the maintenance control division for six years beginning in 1962.

Maland served the first of six terms on the Santa Paula City Council beginning in 1968, and remained in elected office until 1992.

He served on the grand jury in 1953 and was a former chairman of the Camarillo State Hospital board of trustees.

An Army engineer in World War II, Maland also served in the Korean War, his wife said. His foreign service included Dutch New Guinea, the Philippines, Japan and Germany.

One of Maland’s proudest accomplishments was establishing the war memorial in Santa Paula.

“He was back of that 100%,” June said. “We had kids in our class that were killed, and I think that he and some others thought the memorial was a wonderful thing to do.”

In addition to his wife, Maland is survived by his sons, Jaime and David, and three grandchildren.

A community get-together is planned for Jan. 24 at 1 p.m. at the Santa Paula Community Center. June said those who knew Les may share a story with the others. The ceremony will move to Santa Paula Cemetery for a military service.

Maland will be cremated, and his urn is to be placed next to his mother’s at the cemetery.