Bernardo Yorba; Descendant of Spanish Explorer

Bernardo Yorba, descendant of an early California family that owned the only Spanish land grant in Orange County, died Saturday of heart failure.

A big, rugged man who survived 18 months as a prisoner of the Germans in World War II, Yorba was immensely proud of his heritage and the influence that his family had in the history of Orange County and California.

His great-great-grandfather, Jose Antonio Yorba, was one of 62 Spanish soldiers who accompanied Gaspar de Portola in a 1769 expedition to California. He was rewarded for his loyalty to the king with a 62,000-acre land grant, including much of what is now Santa Ana, Tustin, Orange and Costa Mesa.

“His family’s influence in Orange County cannot be overestimated,” Orange County historian Jim Sleeper said of Bernardo Yorba. “Yet he was a man without any pretensions whatsoever.”

In recent years, Yorba, 77, was a rancher and land developer. He lived on property in Santa Ana Canyon that was part of the original land grant. His widow, Margaret Yorba, said her husband died peacefully at home while watching television. The couple had been married for 55 years and met when they were students at Fullerton High School.

In 1943, Yorba was shot down over Germany while piloting a B-17 on a bombing mission.

After the war, Yorba returned to California and attended Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, where he earned a degree in business.

In addition to his wife, Yorba is survived by 10 children: Linda Otzen, Cantana Sisler, Lisa Thomas, Nichola Gurim, Bernardo III, Antonio, Miguel, Christopher, Jaime and Peter; brother Jack; 22 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.

Services are scheduled Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. in San Antonio Catholic Church in Anaheim Hills. The church was built on property donated by the Yorbas.