Jon B. Riffel, 84; Gas Co. Executive Who Helped Found Toys for Tots
Jon B. Riffel, 84, a retired public relations executive who helped launch the Marine Corps’ popular Toys for Tots program after World War II, died Thursday at a Santa Monica hospital, his son Jim said. Riffel was a longtime resident of Pacific Palisades.
Riffel was the Southern California Gas Co.’s vice president of public relations and advertising from 1968 until his retirement in 1986. He had held similar positions at Lockheed in Sunnyvale, Calif., and North American Aviation in Columbus, Ohio.
His son said Riffel collaborated in 1947 with friend Bill Hendricks, a publicist for Warner Bros. studios, and other Marine Corps reservists around Los Angeles to form the Toys for Tots holiday toy drive to benefit underprivileged children.
Five thousand toys were collected the first year. Last year, 19 million toys from drives throughout the nation were distributed to 7.5 million children.
Riffel joined the Marine Corps in 1942 after graduating from Hendrix College in Conway, Ark. He served in the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns in World War II and was recalled to active duty during the Korean War.
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