Deane Dana served four terms as Los Angeles County Supervisor representing the 4th District. He was elected in 1980, 1984, 1988 and again in 1992. He retired in 1996.
Deane Dana was a native of the East Coast. While studying engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., he met his wife-to-be, Doris, at a dance. The couple came to California during his military service. The young Air Force 1st lieutenant was sent to San Clemente Island, where he was put in charge of communications. After completing his military duty, Dana joined Pacific Bell and served 27 years as a telephone company executive. Though he was a veteran Republican activist along with his wife, he had no thought of becoming a civil servant himself. In 1980 Dana was in his 50s when he was persuaded by fellow Republicans to run for the Fourth District Supervisor seat held by Yvonne B. Burke, a Democrat who had been appointed to fill a vacancy on the board by then Gov. Edmund G. Brown. Dana defeated Burke in a runoff election.
Dana is credited with pushing through reforms aimed at making the county run more like a business. He advocated contracting out county services which could be done at less
cost by the private sector, cutting the number of county departments from 57 to 34 and the removal of department heads from civil service so they could be held more
accountable.
He also played key roles in creating anti-gang programs, transportation improvements, shelter and foster care programs and funding for homeless families and single women, and in meeting long-term solid waste disposal needs countywide.
Dana served three times as chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and was president of the Coliseum Commission and the Southern California Regional Airport Authority. Honors included the Long Beach Community Services Corp. "Community Service Award" in 1992; the State of Israel's "Torch of Liberty" in 1986; the California Center for Family Survivors of Homicide's "Most County of Los Angeles
Board of Supervisors Caring Public Official" award in 1985; the Grand Cross of Merit in 1985 from the West German
government in recognition of his cooperation during the 1984 Olympics, and an honorary doctor of law degree bestowed by Pepperdine University in 1985. Also, the Deane Dana Friendship Park Nature Center in San Pedro was named in his honor.
Dana died April 25, 2005 of a heart attack. In addition, he had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. He was survived by his wife Doris; four children, Deane III, Marguerite, and twins Diane and Dorothy; and six grandchildren.
Deane Dana was a native of the East Coast. While studying engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., he met his wife-to-be, Doris, at a dance. The couple came to California during his military service. The young Air Force 1st lieutenant was sent to San Clemente Island, where he was put in charge of communications. After completing his military duty, Dana joined Pacific Bell and served 27 years as a telephone company executive. Though he was a veteran Republican activist along with his wife, he had no thought of becoming a civil servant himself. In 1980 Dana was in his 50s when he was persuaded by fellow Republicans to run for the Fourth District Supervisor seat held by Yvonne B. Burke, a Democrat who had been appointed to fill a vacancy on the board by then Gov. Edmund G. Brown. Dana defeated Burke in a runoff election.
Dana is credited with pushing through reforms aimed at making the county run more like a business. He advocated contracting out county services which could be done at less
cost by the private sector, cutting the number of county departments from 57 to 34 and the removal of department heads from civil service so they could be held more
accountable.
He also played key roles in creating anti-gang programs, transportation improvements, shelter and foster care programs and funding for homeless families and single women, and in meeting long-term solid waste disposal needs countywide.
Dana served three times as chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and was president of the Coliseum Commission and the Southern California Regional Airport Authority. Honors included the Long Beach Community Services Corp. "Community Service Award" in 1992; the State of Israel's "Torch of Liberty" in 1986; the California Center for Family Survivors of Homicide's "Most County of Los Angeles
Board of Supervisors Caring Public Official" award in 1985; the Grand Cross of Merit in 1985 from the West German
government in recognition of his cooperation during the 1984 Olympics, and an honorary doctor of law degree bestowed by Pepperdine University in 1985. Also, the Deane Dana Friendship Park Nature Center in San Pedro was named in his honor.
Dana died April 25, 2005 of a heart attack. In addition, he had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. He was survived by his wife Doris; four children, Deane III, Marguerite, and twins Diane and Dorothy; and six grandchildren.
Deane Dana served four terms as Los Angeles County Supervisor representing the 4th District. He was elected in 1980, 1984, 1988 and again in 1992. He retired in 1996.
Deane Dana was a native of the East Coast. While studying engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., he met his wife-to-be, Doris, at a dance. The couple came to California during his military service. The young Air Force 1st lieutenant was sent to San Clemente Island, where he was put in charge of communications. After completing his military duty, Dana joined Pacific Bell and served 27 years as a telephone company executive. Though he was a veteran Republican activist along with his wife, he had no thought of becoming a civil servant himself. In 1980 Dana was in his 50s when he was persuaded by fellow Republicans to run for the Fourth District Supervisor seat held by Yvonne B. Burke, a Democrat who had been appointed to fill a vacancy on the board by then Gov. Edmund G. Brown. Dana defeated Burke in a runoff election.
Dana is credited with pushing through reforms aimed at making the county run more like a business. He advocated contracting out county services which could be done at less
cost by the private sector, cutting the number of county departments from 57 to 34 and the removal of department heads from civil service so they could be held more
accountable.
He also played key roles in creating anti-gang programs, transportation improvements, shelter and foster care programs and funding for homeless families and single women, and in meeting long-term solid waste disposal needs countywide.
Dana served three times as chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and was president of the Coliseum Commission and the Southern California Regional Airport Authority. Honors included the Long Beach Community Services Corp. "Community Service Award" in 1992; the State of Israel's "Torch of Liberty" in 1986; the California Center for Family Survivors of Homicide's "Most County of Los Angeles
Board of Supervisors Caring Public Official" award in 1985; the Grand Cross of Merit in 1985 from the West German
government in recognition of his cooperation during the 1984 Olympics, and an honorary doctor of law degree bestowed by Pepperdine University in 1985. Also, the Deane Dana Friendship Park Nature Center in San Pedro was named in his honor.
Dana died April 25, 2005 of a heart attack. In addition, he had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. He was survived by his wife Doris; four children, Deane III, Marguerite, and twins Diane and Dorothy; and six grandchildren.
Deane Dana was a native of the East Coast. While studying engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., he met his wife-to-be, Doris, at a dance. The couple came to California during his military service. The young Air Force 1st lieutenant was sent to San Clemente Island, where he was put in charge of communications. After completing his military duty, Dana joined Pacific Bell and served 27 years as a telephone company executive. Though he was a veteran Republican activist along with his wife, he had no thought of becoming a civil servant himself. In 1980 Dana was in his 50s when he was persuaded by fellow Republicans to run for the Fourth District Supervisor seat held by Yvonne B. Burke, a Democrat who had been appointed to fill a vacancy on the board by then Gov. Edmund G. Brown. Dana defeated Burke in a runoff election.
Dana is credited with pushing through reforms aimed at making the county run more like a business. He advocated contracting out county services which could be done at less
cost by the private sector, cutting the number of county departments from 57 to 34 and the removal of department heads from civil service so they could be held more
accountable.
He also played key roles in creating anti-gang programs, transportation improvements, shelter and foster care programs and funding for homeless families and single women, and in meeting long-term solid waste disposal needs countywide.
Dana served three times as chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and was president of the Coliseum Commission and the Southern California Regional Airport Authority. Honors included the Long Beach Community Services Corp. "Community Service Award" in 1992; the State of Israel's "Torch of Liberty" in 1986; the California Center for Family Survivors of Homicide's "Most County of Los Angeles
Board of Supervisors Caring Public Official" award in 1985; the Grand Cross of Merit in 1985 from the West German
government in recognition of his cooperation during the 1984 Olympics, and an honorary doctor of law degree bestowed by Pepperdine University in 1985. Also, the Deane Dana Friendship Park Nature Center in San Pedro was named in his honor.
Dana died April 25, 2005 of a heart attack. In addition, he had been suffering from Alzheimer's Disease. He was survived by his wife Doris; four children, Deane III, Marguerite, and twins Diane and Dorothy; and six grandchildren.
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