John V. Vaughn, 92; Banker, Civic Activist

John V. Vaughn, a banker and industrialist whose several decades of civic activism included heading the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce during a critical period in the region’s growth, died Tuesday of pneumonia at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. He was 92.

Vaughn, a longtime resident of San Marino and Pasadena, owned a pharmaceuticals firm and a paint company before joining Crocker National Bank in 1970 as vice chairman. He served in that post until 1974 and was a member of the bank’s board of directors until the early 1980s.

He was involved with the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce for more than a decade, beginning in 1959. He was its president in 1969 when the region’s rapid growth was stoking fears that the Southland would be overwhelmed by such problems as pollution, unemployment and racial tension.

Vaughn, however, believed that the area needed to prepare for the growth, rather than resist it.

“People will keep coming to Los Angeles, come hell or high water,” Vaughn told The Times in 1970, when he was chamber chairman. “We must face up to it. We must provide employment for the people who will be coming here. If we do not, they will become a burden on the state.”

Among the solutions he pushed were the development of mass transit and airport expansion.

“He was a very forward-thinking man,” said his son-in-law, Richard H. Stone.

Vaughn was born in Grand Junction, Colo., and came to Los Angeles in 1917, when he was 7.

During the Depression, he mowed lawns, pumped gas and performed other odd jobs to work his way through UCLA, where he became the school’s first drum major. He majored in economics and political science, earning a degree in 1932.

After graduating, he worked his way up to branch manager of National Lead Co., leaving in 1937 to be sales manager for Sillers Paint & Varnish Co. in what is now the city of Commerce. Less than a decade later, Vaughn was the firm’s president and principal owner. He sold the company in the late 1950s.

In 1960, he acquired Dartell Laboratories, a pharmaceutical and biochemical manufacturer in downtown Los Angeles. He remained with Dartell until he accepted the vice chairmanship of Crocker National Bank, overseeing operations in Southern California.

He was active in Republican politics, serving in 1964 as co-chairman of a blue-ribbon GOP finance committee.

He was a prolific civic activist. At one point in the 1970s, he was a director or officer of more than two dozen organizations, including Orthopaedic Hospital, the Central City Assn., the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission, the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, Town Hall of California, Los Angeles Beautiful and the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

He was also a University of California regent in 1957-58, a trustee of Claremont Men’s College in 1970-71 and a trustee of Pepperdine University in 1972-76.

Vaughn is survived by his wife of 66 years, Dorothy; a daughter, Dorothy Stone; a son, Spencer; eight grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

Burial will be private. The family asks that any donations be sent to Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.