The Fritz Burns homes were prefabricated, the inexpensive style of the time, so that blue-collar workers could afford them. The motion picture director/aviator Howard Hughes built his infamous “Spruce Goose” airplane in Westchester. But it was the Drollinger family — Ella, the mother, and Howard, her star son — who took Westchester the rest of the way, to its maximum growth. She was an experienced property buyer, and he learned all he would need from his visionary mother. They knew how to buy and develop land. She was responsible for putting up Westchester’s firs commercial structure in 1944, while her son was away at war. Mother and son learned community-building as they went. Since it wasn’t written down anywhere, the commercially savvy mother and son showed how to build a suburban city in the midst of a land boom that was underpinned by explosions in both population and the still novel notion of aerospace. Mr. Drollinger was a young man but not necessarily green. As an Army Air Corps pilot in World War II, he flew 50 missions, and he won a Purple Heart. Joining the post-war generation’s rush to college campuses, he graduated from USC.
The Drollinger Instincts
During the next 50 years, using his remarkable instincts for conceiving of the future, Mr. Drollinger fashioned a comfortable, livable city out of old farmland. Not many people so late into the 20th century had such an opportunity. Mr. Drollinger’s investment helped sleepy Westchester burgeon into a thriving community featuring a busy shopping district with a full complement of retail stores. Many of the vendors were tenants of Westchester’s best known business then and now, the H.B. Drollinger Co. LAX, Westchester’s most prominent neighbor, monopolized Mr. Drollinger’s career during its peak years and at the end. Airport expansion was the culprit both times, and Mr. Drollinger. In the late 1960s and early ‘70s, some 3,500 homes were bought up by expansion interests, leading inexorably to the departure of 10,000 of Westchester’s 65,000, a blow that left the city reeling for years. “I never lost faith in Westchester,” Mr. Drollinger said four years ago. “I knew this community would get through that double whammy.”As it turned out, Mr. Drollinger’s vigorous final years also were devoted to opposing expansion.
He Is Everywhere
State Sen. Debra Bowen may have pegged Mr. Drollinger better than others who paid tribute. “You can’t go anywhere in Westchester without seeing the work that Howard has done,” Ms. Bowen said. “He poured his heart and soul into the community he loved and into so many charitable organizations. Howard had true friends from all walks of life and across the political spectrum. We will all miss his lion’s heart, his principled stands, and his generous spirit.” Mr. Drollinger’s commitment to the community was evident in every letter he wrote. For more than 50 years, he signed his personal correspondence, “Yours for a Greater Westchester.” Here was proof that he meant his words: While other property owners sold, Mr. Drollinger continued to buy. By the early ‘90s, he owned a significant portion of the Central Business District, and he began redeveloping the area. Since then, he has overseen the development of the Ralphs Westchester Village Center, which includes Long’s Drugs, Blockbuster Video and numerous smaller retailers. Three years ago, he built the $25 million The Parking Spot-Sepulveda parking structure to serve airport travelers. He continued to own and manage various office and commercial buildings throughout the Westchester area. “It makes no difference how many buildings you build or the individual success you might achieve,” Mr. Drollinger said recently when he was honored as the Loyola Marymount University Entrepreneur of the Year. “What really matters, what people will remember, is how you treat your fellow man.”
His Impact on the Community
A Westchester Rotarian for 54 years, Mr. Drollinger donated millions to local organizations. His contributions had a huge impact on the community, from helping to feed the hungry and provide additional educational materials to local schools to providing services for the mentally ill and recreational opportunities for adults and children. He was a longtime contributor and supporter of the organizations that formed the backbone of the community, including the Union Rescue Mission, Westchester Family YMCA, Westchester/LAX–Marina del Rey Chamber of Commerce, Loyola Marymount, Airport Marina Counseling Service and local youth sports teams and schools. “For decades, Howard Drollinger defined civic leadership in Westchester,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl. “Building on his mother’s legacy, he helped give birth to downtown Westchester. Howard always put his community first, whether it was by fighting LAX expansion, spearheading economic development, or lending his name, his time and his resources to community beautification projects. Howard was a treasure. He left our world a better place. He was honored by dozens of organizations for his efforts and was the recipient of the 2005 Fritz B. Burns Outstanding Community Service and Leadership Award, the Rotary Club of Westchester’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Westchester Family YMCA’s Community Builder Award and the Westchester/LAX–Marina del Rey Chamber of Commerce’s Helmsman Leadership Award. “Howard was a Westchester institution who gave tirelessly for the benefit of the community he called ‘home,’” said Kathleen Aikenhead, president of the William H. Hannon Foundation. “My uncle would tell me how he and Howard would ‘challenge’ each other on donations to various civic groups. My uncle would donate, if Howard donated, and vice versa. They had fun together as they were both Westchester pioneers. Howard will be missed by the Hannon family, and we know that he is in heaven today.”
Postscript
Mr. Drollinger is survived by his brother, Bob Drollinger; second wife, Margaret Drollinger; daughter, Karen Dial; son, Jim Drollinger; daughter-in-law, Andrea Furtivo; son-in-law Ken Dial; and grandchildren Terry and Natalie Dial. He was preceded in death by his wife of 46 years, Jewel Drollinger, who died in 1996. In lieu of flowers, his family requests that donations be made to the Drollinger Family Charitable Foundation, a foundation created by Mr. Drollinger to continue his long-standing support of worthwhile community organizations. Donations can be mailed to the Foundation at 8929 S. Sepulveda Blvd., No. 130, Westchester, CA 90045.
