Civic Cardinals
No fewer than eight people associated with Whittier High School have ascended to the mayorship of Whittier. At least two other individuals ascended to the mayorship of nearby cities. Three gentlemen have been Mayor of Whittier in addition to being teachers and coaches at Whittier High School.
Monte Wicker (WHS Class of 1934, HOF Class of 2017) was a Whittier City Councilman from 1962-74 and Mayor of Whittier from 1964-66. He and his family are longtime owners of Monte's Camera Shop in Uptown Whittier. Wicker was among the businessmen who founded the Whittier Uptown Association in 1954. Wicker was also a World War II veteran. Wicker was on the City Council when the City elected to contract with Los Angeles County for fire services, and when the City elected to adopt the County address system. Prior to his death in 2016 at the age of 99, Wicker was a factotum for information about pre-World War II Whittier. You can read his Whittier Daily News obituary here.
Marilyn Hofstetter (WHS Class of 1946, HOF Class of 2012), who served on the Whittier City Council from 1960 to 1972 and as Mayor from 1968 to 1970, was the first female Mayor of Whittier. She was an early female graduate of UC Berkeley Boalt Hall Law School and practiced law in Whittier prior to serving on the Whittier City Council. She was an active Soroptimist, rising to the presidency of Soroptimist International in 1987. Her sister, Patricia Hofstetter (WHS Class of 1944, HOF Class of 2012) was one of Southern California’s first female judges.
Jack Mele served on the Whittier City Council while simultaneously serving as principal of Whittier High School, including as Mayor of Whittier from 1976 to 1978. A 1943 graduate of Whittier College, Mele was drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers and played for minor league clubs in their organization beginning in 1943 and ending in 1949. He was also a World War II veteran, serving as a bombardier Second Lieutenant in the Army Air Force. Beginning in 1950, Mele was a teacher and coach at Whittier High School, teaching English and social studies and coaching baseball and football. Mele was the head coach of the 1960 CIF Southern Section Champion baseball team.
Vic Lopez (WHS Class of 1946, HOF Class of 2001) taught shop and coached football at Whittier High School. He was the head coach of the 1964 CIF Championship football team. He served as Mayor of Whittier from 1980-1982 and 1988-1990. Lopez's time on the Council straddled the 1987 Whittier Narrows Earthquake and its aftermath. Lopez was also on the council when the Palm Park pool was dedicated. The Whittier High School Auditorium bears Lopez’s name.
Myron Claxton (WHS Class of 1936, HOF Class of 2002) served as Mayor of Whittier from 1984 to 1986. Claxton was a star football player at Whittier High School and then Whittier College, being named a small-college All-American. His senior year, the rival Occidental Tigers attempted to sideline Claxton by stealing his football cleats; Claxton played in his work boots and the Poets still won the game. Those shoes were later bronzed and contested as a trophy between the Occidental and Whittier football teams prior to those schools discontinuing football. He became a science teacher and coach at Whittier High School, and eventually the Whittier High School Science (“B”) building was named in his honor. Claxton was active in the Whittier High Y’s Service Club and gives his name to a service award given by the Whittier YMCA. You can listen to his reminiscences of Whittier here.
Bob Henderson (WHS Class of 1958, HOF Class of 2013) holds the record for longest service as a Whittier City Councillor, at 36 years. He served on the Whittier City Council from 1976 to 1984 and 1990 to 2018, including as Mayor from 1992-1994, 2009-10 and 2013-14. Besides being a Councilman, the Henderson family operates an insurance brokerage in Uptown Whittier. Henderson perhaps did more than anyone to preserve Whittier’s open space. He created the Puente Hills Habitat Authority, negotiated the purchase of parcels of hillside land, and devised funding the purchase of those lands through a tonnage tax. Henderson was also on the Whittier City Council when the city created the Whittier Greenway Trail, opened several new parks, saved the Whittier Depot and enacted a historic preservation ordinance.
Dave Butler (WHS Class of 1962, HOF Class of 2008) served on the Whittier City Council from 1996 to 2006 and as Mayor of Whittier 2002-04. Prior to his Whittier City Council service, Butler was a Vietnam War veteran, a police officer and owner of Carol Ann's gas station in Uptown Whittier. Butler was a founding board member of the Whittier High School Alumni Association. Butler passed away in 2024 in Texas.
The current mayor of Whittier, Joe Vinatieri (WHS Class of 1970, HOF Class of 2013) has served on the Whittier City Council since 2006. Vinatieri was a founding board member of the Whittier High School Alumni Association.
Jean (Godwin) Lietzau (WHS Class of 1946, HOF Class of 2005) became the founding mayor of La Habra Heights. Gus Velasco (WHS Class of 1958, HOF Class of 2013) was a career civil servant, working mostly in the City of Santa Fe Springs. He rose to director of Parks, Recreation and Community Services, overseeing an expansion of services offered at the public library. He oversaw development of a community center that now bears his name. From 2000 to 2008, Velasco served on the Santa Fe Springs City Council, including two one-year terms as Mayor.
In addition, at least two WHSAAEF Hall of Famers are the children of Whittier mayors: businessman and philanthropist Bill Wood was the son of Mayor Harlan Wood, and school superintendent Robert “Bo” Henke is the son of Mayor Janet Henke. Academic Judi Henderson is the wife of former Mayor Bob Henderson.