Cyril Nigg; UCLA Regent, Ex-Chief of Bell Brand Foods

Cyril C. Nigg, former head of Bell Brand Foods, philanthropist and dedicated alumni president and regent of UCLA, has died. He was 94.

Nigg, a leading Catholic layman, died Thursday in Los Angeles.

“Service to others is the key to everything,” he once said. “I never ask anybody to give if I haven’t given myself. You must give of yourself to make things work. We have an obligation to our fellow man to get in there and work.”

Nigg was a member of the UC Board of Regents in the mid-1950s in his capacity as president of the UCLA Alumni Assn. He strongly opposed university participation in the Pacific Coast Conference (now the Pac 10) in 1957 in a dispute over whether smaller schools could discipline the much larger UCLA and USC.

More significantly, Nigg was a major champion of the UCLA Medical Center.

President of the campus Newman Club as an undergraduate, Nigg was a benefactor and longtime supporter of that Catholic organization for students. UCLA is now constructing the Cyril C. Nigg Newman Center scheduled for completion next fall.

Born in Mankato, Minn., Nigg moved to Los Angeles with his family when he was a teenager and graduated from UCLA in 1927. Thirty years later, he was named the campus’ Edward A. Dickson Alumnus of the Year.

After working for U.S. Gypsum and the Kellogg Co., Nigg owned and operated potato chip manufacturer Bell Brand Foods for 25 years. He also had cattle ranching interests in Nevada.

A major fund-raiser and donor, Nigg served as president of the United Way of Los Angeles County. In 1985 he received its Victor M. Carter Humanitarian Award, citing him as “a humbling example of public service and commitment to his fellow man.”

Nigg also chaired the board of regents of Immaculate Heart College, and was a director of the California Institute for Cancer Research, St. John of God Hospital, the Catholic Welfare Bureau and St. Vincent’s Hospital Medical Building. He was president of the Vernon Rotary Club and the Sales Executives Club.

Nigg, in recognition for his work and gifts to Catholic organizations, received one of the first Cardinal’s Awards from the Los Angeles Archdiocese, and was named a Knight of Malta, Knight Commander of St. Gregory and Knight of the Holy Sepulchre.

Widowed by his wife of 60 years, Edith Witkowski, and his second wife, Dorothy Lieb Von der Ahe, Nigg is survived by his wife Josephine; son C. Peter Nigg; daughter Nancy Doty; a sister, Rita Armstrong; 16 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren; and 10 stepchildren.

Mass is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Holy Cross Mausoleum in Culver City.

The family has asked that any memorial contributions be made to the John Wayne Cancer Institute, 1328 22nd St., Santa Monica, 90404, or to Sisters Servants of Mary, 2131 W. 27th St., Los Angeles, 90018.