Blossom Chronicles

Orozco: 'Desire Is Secret to Success'

Redondo Union senior Jose Orozco—the latest person to be named a Greatest Person on Redondo Beach Patch—says a turning point in his life came three summers ago.

Jovan Orozco, 17, has been accepted to the University of Southern California, Notre Dame and the University of Pennsylvania. He's on the waiting list at Harvard. Nearly four years ago, the Redondo Union High School senior, a straight-A student since the start of his junior year, made a life-changing decision to take the hardest classes after he saved a girl from drowning. While catching some rays on the beach three summers ago, Jovan heard a girl screaming for help. “She was drowning,” Jovan, who tried to attract the life guard’s attention, told Patch during an interview last week. “He was doing pull-ups and too far away, so I ran in and saved her.” One problem: “I never learned how to swim.” That technicality aside, he managed to dog …

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Blossom Chronicles

Parsons Is Public Service Personified

Former Redondo Beach City Councilman John Parsons is still a tireless mover and shaker.

Back in 1986, just after he quit his administrative post at Hughes Aircraft in El Segundo, John J. Parsons experienced a metamorphosis that was “almost biblical,” he said. While at Hughes, Parsons had zoomed up the corporate ladder, progressing from the Data Systems Group, where he worked in quality assurance on defense-related optics (infrared equipment, laser ranger finders); purchasing, where he “traveled like crazy” all over the world; and heading an engineering department with $100 million worth of contracts. Despite loving the work, especially solving critical engineering issues, something was missing, Parsons, 59, said during an interview at Catalina Coffee in South Redondo—the best place to meet a man constantly on the go. “There’s…

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Blossom Chronicles

Michael Morales: Man Behind the Village

Michael Morales, a mover and a shaker dedicated to volunteerism, is the man behind the beautification of Riviera Village in South Redondo Beach.

Inspired by his war-hero father, Michael Morales learned early to overcome obstacles and improve things—be they leaky pipes or the character and charm of a city. “I was raised by someone who only had one arm,” Morales, 54, said in the colorful surroundings of Harmony Works, the Redondo Beach gallery he owns with his wife Royce. “I learned to do things differently.” Morales spoke movingly about how his father, Adolfo, a sergeant major in the U.S. Army, continued to give cover to fellow soldiers after losing his left arm in a firefight with the Germans in WWII, only to see his “leg pretty much shot up” due to a land mine explosion while being rescued. Yet Adolfo’s post-war spirit remained indomitable, his son said. “He did plumbing, …

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Wanted: Redondo's Greatest Person

Patch is profiling Redondo Beach residents who are making a difference in the world.

What do Ernie O'Dell, Marna Smeltzer, Jean Hirano, Pat Dreizler and Sandy Marchese have in common? They've all been profiled as a Redondo Beach "Greatest Person" in Redondo Beach Patch. Once per month, Katharine Blossom Lowrie dedicates a column in her "Blossom Chronicles" to feature someone who makes Redondo great—someone whose acts of courage, determination, volunteerism and/or compassion make a difference in the community. But we still need your help! We're always looking for someone new to profile as a Greatest Person, and we want your suggestions. Think ordinary people doing extraordinary things for friends, families, groups and others—they're everywhere, in faith communities, nonprofit groups, schools, senior centers, firehouses and …

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Nicole Mooradian

2:31 pm on Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Thanks, BG, for the suggestion! Do you mind adding it to this form? That way, we'll have a record of your nomination when Katharine decides who she's profiling next. :) The form sticks all the nominations on one page so she doesn't have to sort through email and comments to find them. https://docs.google.com/a/patch.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dG92bXRLWTZ0b0RUd2s2NUJBNVljc2c6MQ   more ›

Blossom Chronicles

Pat Dreizler Defines 'Greatest Person'

Pat Dreizler, the first female department head in Redondo Beach history, still occupies the limelight.

At 85, Patricia Allen Dreizler is a scary lady. Her mind is so nimble that she can dredge up short- and long-term memories of Redondo Beach—whether social, economic or political—faster than one can blink. It’s why her phone still rings with people, including community officials she’s mentored over the years, asking her advice or wanting her to serve on some board or other. But Dreizler’s 30-year career in public service—she rose from a part-time recreation leader to become the first female department head in the city’s history—is only a small part of why she was selected as a Patch Greatest Person. Close friend and real estate broker Gentil Smith nominated the former director of community resources because Dreizler pioneered so many …

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Blossom Chronicles

Smeltzer Leading Chamber into Future

Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce President Marna Smeltzer finds confidence along her journey from insecure receptionist to advocate.

When Marna Smeltzer decided to apply for a job as a receptionist at the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce in 1986, she was a single mother raising two children and working two jobs. Little did she dream that by 1995, she would step into the shoes of the man who first hired her, Ernie O’Dell, who vacated his post as president and CEO of the chamber to become Redondo Beach's city treasurer. "I have to tell you my favorite Ernie story," Smeltzer, 60, said, eyes twinkling devilishly as she spoke of an episode that occurred in 2000. It happened during a business exchange trip to China in which O'Dell and other city officials, business leaders and members of the chamber were being hosted by their Chinese counterparts at a dinner in the Xian Wu …

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Blossom Chronicles

Marchese Is Multitasker Extraordinaire

Civic-mindedness and a flair for comedy keep Redondo Beach resident Sandy Marchese hopping.

If you said that Sandy Marchese suffers from multiple personality syndrome, you wouldn't be far off. One never knows if she will turn up in uniform to ticket a car illegally parked in a handicapped zone; don a hard hat to demonstrate ways travelers can respond to a terrorist attack; or pop up on stage as Olga Bogachev, one of many characters she assumes as a member of the April's Fools Comedy Improv Troupe. In her multi-level home in south Redondo Beach, Marchese literally dealt from a deck of business cards to reflect her numerous identities—among them, event planner for Masterpiece Meetings & Events; marketer/trainer for Protection at Location (PAL); past president of CERT (Community Emergency Response Team); public safety commissioner; …

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Blossom Chronicles

Ernie O'Dell: Man Behind the Memorial

Back in 1995, Redondo Beach City Treasurer Ernie O'Dell had a dream: to build a worthy memorial to veterans.

Brick by brick, Ernie O'Dell saw his dream materialize. It happened earlier this year, when the major portion of The Redondo Beach Veterans Memorial was completed in Veterans Park, a lush landscape dotted with Moreton Bay fig trees and cypress pines. The project had a lot of help from O'Dell's "buds"—as he calls members of the memorial task force who still "get down on their hands and knees in the dirt" to plant memorial bricks around the granite and stone monument. How it all came about is part magic, part genius, part dedication—qualities that personify Ernie O'Dell, the U.S. Army veteran selected by Redondo Beach Patch for its Greatest Person series. "This is one of those things where an idea comes out of your head," O'Dell said as he …

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Blossom Chronicles

Jean Hirano Delivers Inspiration

Redondo Beach resident and Patch "Greatest Person" Jean Hirano volunteers her time for seniors and children.

The story was vintage Jean Hirano: She and husband David Miller delivered Meals on Wheels dinners to South Bay residents in need on Thanksgiving Day seven years ago—a project Hirano, 51, had initiated in conjunction with the Redondo Beach Salvation Army. "It makes me cry," Hirano said, her eyes glossing over at the memory. "The people were so grateful, [mainly] because they had nobody to visit them. It's really heartbreaking, but at the same time it's very rewarding." The community spirit of the ebullient Redondo Beach wife, mother and property manager is what motivated close friend Kristie Davidson to nominate Hirano for Patch's new Greatest Person series. "Jean gives her time and patience to Meals on Wheels for the Salvation Army, and is…

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Who's Redondo's Greatest Person?

Patch will profile Redondo Beach residents who are making a difference in the world.

You might have seen "The Greatest Person of the Day" series on The Huffington Post. Now the project has come to Patch. This month, Redondo Beach Patch will launch its own version of this feature spotlighting ordinary and extraordinary Redondo Beach residents whose acts of courage, determination, volunteerism and compassion have made a difference. Each person featured in the series will inspire and energize others to strengthen their communities and improve lives.  Think ordinary people doing extraordinary things for friends, families, groups and others—they're everywhere, in faith communities, nonprofit groups, schools, senior centers, firehouses and elsewhere. There are no age restrictions. We want diversity of age, race and gender. Most …

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