Halfacre is Newport’s top citizen

Lula Halfacre, the chief executive of the Traditional Jewelers store at Fashion Island, has won the Citizen of the Year award from the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Halfacre, who founded the jewelry store in the 1970s with her late husband, Marion Halfacre, has supported a number of charities throughout the years.

In addition, she serves on the chamber’s Commodores Club and has chaired the chamber’s board of directors and the annual Taste of Newport festival.

“I was shocked,” Halfacre said as she looked around the room at past winners of the award. “What an honor it is to be associated with this group of people. To be in this group has just made me speechless. I accept this honor in memory of my husband, Marion, also.”

The chamber invited Halfacre to the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa this afternoon and told her she would be tasting food for this year’s Citizen of the Year Gala. When she arrived, though, she found a group of past recipients of the award — including former Mayors Evelyn Hart and Dennis O’Neil, former State Sen. Marian Bergeson and Irrelevant Week founder Paul Salata — who told her she was this year’s honoree.

There was also another critical time factor involved, said Michael Stephens, the former Hoag Hospital chief executive who helped lure Halfacre to the Marriott. Halfacre was scheduled to for a 3 p.m. flight to Zurich, Switzerland to visit some of the local watchmakers in that country on a business trip.

Halfacre is set to receive her award June 12 at the Citizen of the Year Gala at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel and Spa.

BIO

Lula Halfacre, 55

Originally from Mississippi, Halfacre moved here in 1972 with husband Marion and opened Traditional Jewelers. The business is one of the most successful in Fashion Island. Halfacre is well-known in social circles and for her philanthropy. She has chaired the Taste of Newport, she’s a member of the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce’s Commodores and is an active business leader. She and husband Marion, who died last year, have two children, Erik and Natalie.

PAST CITIZEN OF THE YEAR RECIPIENTS

1949 — Robert “Bob” Murphy

1950 — Harry Welch

1951 — Robert Callis

1952 — Myford Irvine

1953 — O.W. “Dick” Richards

1954 — Dora O. Hill

1955 — Joseph A. Beek

1956 — Edward Milum, M.D.

1957 — J.L. “Les” Steffensen, James “Jim” Edwards

1958 — William “Bill” Spurgeon

1959 — David Nielsen, M.D.

1960 — Gerald Lynch

1961 — Carroll Beek

1962 — Paul A. Palmer

1963 — Dr. Basil H. Peterson

1964 — Robert Reed

1965 — Isabel Pease

1966 — Theodore Robins

1967 — John Murdy

1968 — Judge Robert Gardner, Walter Longmoor

1969 — A. Vincent Jorgenson

1970 — Fred Schope

1971 — John Macnab, Doreen Marshall

1972 — John Lawson

1973 — Phil Tozer

1974 — George Hoag

1975 — Richard “Dick” Stevens

1976 — Ray Watson

1977 — Arvo Haapa

1978 — Robert Wynn

1979 — T. Duncan Stewart

1980 — Robert Shelton

1981 — William P. Ficker, Bill Banning

1982 — Harry Babbitt

1983 — J. Peter Barrett

1984 — William D. Lusk

1985 — Charley Hester

1986 — Jackie Heather

1987 — Bob McCurdy

1988 — Hans Prager

1989 — Bill Hamilton

1990 — Paul Salata

1991/92 — Jim Dale

1992/93 — Art Gronsky

1993/94 — Bob Robins

1994/95 — Michael Stephens

1995/96 — Lucille Kuehn

1997 — Rush N. Hill, II

1998 — Marian Bergeson

1999 — Clarence “Bus” Turner

2000 — Thomas C. Edwards

2001 — Dayna Pettit

2002 — Bill Grundy

2003 — Scott Paulsen

2004 — Bill Ring

2005 — Seymour Beek

2006 — Dennis O’Neil

2007 — Evelyn Hart

2008 — Lula Halfacre

TONY DODERO may be reached at tony.dodero@latimes.com or at (714) 966-4608. MICHAEL MILLER may be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com.