William Hannon Dies; Major Builder and Philanthropist

William H. Hannon, a real estate developer who helped build Westchester, Playa del Rey and other communities in Southern California, died Thursday night at a Torrance hospital. He was 86.

A third-generation Los Angeles native, Hannon joined the real estate business in the late 1930s as an associate of Fritz B. Burns, a legendary developer who built a fortune on low-cost housing in Southern California.

With Burns, Hannon subdivided thousands of acres in Westchester, then built and sold homes to GIs returning from World War II.

A lifelong bachelor, he was described by associates as a man who lived simply and plowed millions of dollars into philanthropy. He was a major benefactor of Loyola Marymount University, his alma mater, serving as trustee and regent.

A devout Catholic, Hannon devoted his last years to preserving the legacy of Father Junipero Serra, the 18th century missionary and pioneer who founded the California mission system. Beginning in 1991, Hannon erected 100 statues of Serra in California, including one at each of the state’s 21 missions.

Just two weeks before his death, he was planning to send a statue to Serra’s birthplace in Petra de Mallorca, Spain.

“I often say that Father Serra was the first subdivider of California,” Hannon once said, explaining the resonance that Serra held for him. “He was the first real estate developer in Los Angeles, if you think about it. He helped to settle what is now the [San Fernando] Valley.”

Hannon served as an intelligence officer in the Army during World War II and received a special meritorious award for his work on the Manhattan Project, the group that designed and built the first atomic bomb.

Military service was the only interruption in his career, which began when he joined Fritz B. Burns & Associates in 1937 after graduating from what was then Loyola University in Westchester.

Starting in Westchester, Burns and Hannon helped pioneer prefabricated housing in partnership with Henry J. Kaiser during the boom period after World War II, according to longtime Westchester developer Howard Drollinger.

With Hannon’s help, Burns later led developments in Panorama City, Playa del Rey and Ontario.

He was co-owner with Burns of the old San Fernando Airport, which was closed in 1984 and developed as a shopping center and industrial site. Hannon operated a swap meet for 1,000 vendors on his parcel.

After Burns’ death in 1979, Hannon continued in the real estate business, buying apartments and industrial buildings.

“He was a shrewd old guy,” said business partner Richard Dunn. “His office was right out of the 1940s--no computers, no Xerox machine. But he sure could count.”

He was for many years the president of the Fritz B. Burns Foundation. He later started his own philanthropy, the William Hannon Foundation, which has supported many Catholic schools and hospitals as well as organizations such as Para Los Ninos, a child care organization based on skid row.

As a boy, Hannon toured California’s missions with his mother and developed a great interest in the early history of the state and Los Angeles. His crusade to keep the memory of Serra alive had its roots in those childhood visits.

About eight years ago, Hannon commissioned a Sacramento artist to design a bronze statue of Serra and installed the first piece at the San Fernando Mission. By 1996 he estimated he had spent more than $3 million on the statues, which stand 5 feet, 3 inches tall and weigh 400 pounds each. He donated many of them to schools.

A close friend of the late Father Noel Maholy, the chief advocate of Serra’s canonization in the Roman Catholic Church, Hannon waged a personal campaign to have Serra declared a saint. Serra’s canonization has been pending since 1934, awaiting proof of a miracle. The effort has been opposed by some because of controversy over Serra’s treatment of Native Americans.

Such criticism did not diminish Hannon’s profound admiration for the pioneering missionary. Inspired by Serra’s example, he often told people to buy homes within 10 miles of a mission because those locations promised good soil, water and wind.

“Father Serra saw that this is where the Indians had lived for hundreds of years,” Hannon once explained. “He said, ‘They know what they’re doing.’ ”

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, who named Hannon a Knight of St. Gregory, will preside over his burial Mass at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Sacred Heart Chapel on the Loyola Marymount campus. Interment will be private.

* Donations may be sent to Loyola Marymount University, 7900 Loyola Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045, or Little Company of Mary Hospital, 4101 Torrance Blvd., Torrance, CA 90504.