The ‘mouth’ of Costa Mesa will move on

Costa Mesa resident Nadine Andreen received a range of gifts Saturday

at her 90th birthday celebration. There were the standard cards and

wrapped presents, but the one that really caught her eye came inside

a plastic baggie.

A neighborhood couple, Lance and Jean Thompson-Hailstone, packed

the air-sealed gift with items such as a pinecone, a rock, a plastic

mouth and a ceramic heart -- each of which represented a part of

Andreen’s personality and life work.

A Mesa del Mar neighborhood advocate, Andreen recently convinced

the city of Costa Mesa to halt plans to knock down a row of trees at

TeWinkle Park that would have made way for a baseball field

reconfiguration.

For years, Andreen said friends have told her that she is their

rock and that her heart beats for Costa Mesa.

And as for the bright white teeth ...

“I don’t know what Costa Mesa is going to do when the mouth of the

city moves away,” Andreen said.

As soon as her house is sold, Andreen said she is planning to move

to Oregon to be closer to her son, Norman Andreen. Her daughter,

Costa Mesan Laura McDonnell, is planning to move to Utah.

Friends and Mesa del Mar neighbors came to say their goodbyes and

celebrate Andreen’s civic involvement at Saturday’s function.

Born in rural Kansas, Andreen moved with her husband, Leroy, to

Costa Mesa in the late 1960s.

Leroy “Roy” Andreen was the dean of guidance and counseling at

Orange Coast College for 17 years. He died in 1999.

From the moment they moved to Costa Mesa, the Andreens became

enmeshed in neighborhood affairs. Leroy Andreen served as president

of the Mesa del Mar Homeowners’ Assn. for 20 years, and Nadine

Andreen later became secretary. The meetings were held at the

couple’s house.

Leroy Andreen was a regular at Costa Mesa City Council meetings,

most often representing Mesa del Mar residents.

“Our goal was to keep undesirable things from being built in our

neighborhood,” Nadine Andreen said.

The couple persuaded the city to halt construction of a heliport

on top of a building near their house.

The Andreens demanded that there be noise checks on concerts held

at the Orange County Fairgrounds. And they got a group of

motorcyclists to use mufflers while holding races in the

neighborhood.

Nadine and Leroy Andreen worked as a team, always pressing for

their agendas without raising their voices.

“I used to tell him, you’ve got the intelligence, I have the

common sense,” Nadine Andreen said.

And Nadine Andreen wouldn’t hold back the personal commentary,

either.

“She’d call up council members she had never met and give them

suggestions on how to present themselves better and change their

hairstyles,” friend Robin Leffler said.

“And people take it well from her.”

Nadine Andreen was named an outstanding citizen by the city seven

years ago for her community work. Leroy Andreen served on the Costa

Mesa Planning Commission and was involved with other city agencies.

For his work with the city, he received a Circle of Service award.

“She has a very sharp mind and is rooted in good sense,” said

friend Tom Egan, a Costa Mesa resident and Newport-Mesa Unified

School Board member.

Added Egan’s wife, Eleanor, “What’s memorable is the combination

of her forthrightness and girlish, mischievous giggle.”

Nadine Andreen spent much of her free time working the phone,

something she said she plans to continue when she moves to the

Pacific Northwest.

“For my whole life, my heart was in Kansas,” Nadine Andreen said.

“I’ve learned to respect and love Costa Mesa over the years. As I

move away, Costa Mesa will still be my hometown.”

* ELIA POWERS is the enterprise and general assignment reporter.

He may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or by e-mail at

[email protected].