William C. Kern; Helped Stage Special Events for The Times

William C. “Will” Kern, a longtime member of the special events staff at the Los Angeles Times who helped stage a number of the major athletic events that the paper hosted to raise funds for various Southland charities, has died.

Kern died Friday at a convalescent hospital in Orange after a lengthy illness. He was 70.

Born in Los Angeles, Kern was raised in San Diego and studied journalism at San Diego State. Kern was first employed at newspapers in La Mesa and Lakeside in San Diego County. During the Korean War, he served in a heavy mortar company in Korea before joining a public information outfit on assignment in West Germany.

After leaving the service he worked for papers in National City and Chula Vista before moving to Orange County, where he worked for the Register. Then he joined The Times’ Orange County Bureau as a reporter-photographer in 1959. He moved to The Times’ special events department as an assistant to Director Glenn Davis in 1963. He became director of special events when Davis, the winner of the Heisman Trophy in 1946, retired in 1986.

As a key member of the special events staff, Kern helped put on major sporting events sponsored by The Times over three decades.

Those events included the Times Charity Football Game, the annual exhibition football opener featuring the then-Los Angeles Rams against a variety of NFL teams; the Times Indoor Games, a leading indoor track meet; and the Times Grand Prix, which was the final event of the Can-Am series for sports cars at the old Riverside Raceway. In addition, The Times sponsored several U.S.-Soviet track meets during the Cold War era.

Those events raised millions for a Times-sponsored Boys Club and other local charities.

In addition to his work at The Times, Kern was assistant competition director for track and field for the 1984 Olympic Games; past president of the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame; and, in journalism, charter president of the Orange County Chapter of Sigma Delta Chi.

After his retirement from The Times in 1992, Kern was active with the San Diego Community Campership Council as a member of its board of directors.

He is survived by his sons, Geoff, Jon, Bill and Scott; three stepdaughters, Rhonda Young, Carrie Pohlman and Joni Perez; a stepson, Lance Johnson; and 13 grandchildren.

A memorial service is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Heisler Park in Laguna Beach. The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, a contribution be made to the Times Summer Camp Fund.