Lorin Griset, 86; Former Mayor Quelled Racial Tensions in Santa Ana
Lorin Griset, 86, a former Santa Ana mayor and city councilman, died Friday at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach from complications of a hematoma, family members said.
Born to a Santa Ana dairy farmer, Griset was elected to his first council term in 1967. Two years later, he became mayor as the city plunged into racial turmoil sparked by the slaying of a white Santa Ana police officer by a member of the Black Panthers.
Griset met with black church leaders to quell tensions and later helped launch the city’s Human Relations Commission. In 1971, he also supported a plan to bus schoolchildren to achieve integration.
Before entering politics, Griset, a UCLA graduate and lifelong Republican, helped found a Christian businessmen’s group and served as president of Goodwill Industries.
As an Army officer during World War II, he was captured by the Germans and sent to a prison camp in Poland, said his son Norman.
Griset and other prisoners of war were later forced to march back to Germany through the snow as their captors fled the advancing Russian Army. Griset was freed when the war ended, his son said.
Returning home, he set up an insurance business.
A continuation high school under construction in Santa Ana is being named in his honor, family members said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
