Always with the town in mind

Elia Powers

Al Ogden was a civic-minded man.

Whether it was hopping in his car to fight fires or helping

improve educational opportunities for Costa Mesa students, friends

say Ogden always had others in mind.

“He did everything he was called upon to do,” said high school

classmate and Costa Mesa resident Everett Brace. “He was a very

genuine person.”

Ogden’s parents were two of the first settlers in Costa Mesa in

1903, according to a Costa Mesa Historical Society interview

transcript.

The Ogdens were a farming family, and Al was a productive worker,

taking care of the family’s chickens as a young child and looking

after their 4 1/2 -acre property.

Ogden was one of the first students to attend Newport Harbor High

School. He graduated in 1938. After working on a citrus ranch, Ogden

took a job with the Newport Harbor High School District as a bus

driver and a gardener.

Ogden served in the Army for a short time and joined the Costa

Mesa Newport Harbor Lions Club in 1946, serving as president in 1956.

Friends often referred to him as Mr. Fish Fry, because he helped

flip burgers at the Lions Club’s annual event. Ogden said in an

interview that one year he helped the club raise $90,000 at the

event.

Ogden was perhaps best known for his blood donations. A Daily

Pilot story from more than 30 years ago reported that Ogden, then in

his 50s, had donated 14 gallons of blood to the Red Cross over his

lifetime.

He also donated his time, joining the Costa Mesa Fire Department

as a volunteer in 1939.

As Brace remembers, he and Ogden would regularly drive their own

cars to fires because the city didn’t have the resources to purchase

many trucks of its own.

“We wouldn’t think twice about getting in our cars and going to

the scene of a fire,” said Brace, 88.

Still, Ogden said during his Historical Society interview that he

wanted to give the city a gift. So one afternoon he drove his car to

Sacramento to pick up a fire truck that had gone on sale.

Ogden also helped plan the annual Fireman’s Ball to raise money

for the fire department.

He was heavily involved in his high school reunions, and served

for 16 years as a board member for schools in Costa Mesa.

Ogden said in the Historical Society interview that he got

pleasure out of helping the city grow. And friends said they enjoyed

his company.

“He was a happy-go-lucky type of guy,” Brace said. “The type of

person you wanted to like.”

Ogden died on Christmas Day, 1984.

* THE GOOD OLD DAYS runs Sundays. Do you know of a person, place

or event that deserves a look back? Let us know. Contact us by fax at

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Daily Pilot, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.