Recalling a school district leader

JERRY PERSON

I hope many of you attended or watched on TV as our Huntington Beach

High School Band marched down Main Street in this year’s Fourth of

July parade.

I know of one proud father, Andy Arnold, whose son Drew marched in

the band with his fellow musicians.

Arnold reminded me that this year is a special year for the band.

It will be celebrating its 100th year and these young musicians will

join the ranks of all those band members of the past century.

I was also reminded that the Huntington Beach High School Alumni

Assn. will be holding its 12th annual Hometown Picnic at Lake Park

for anyone who ever attended the school.

If you have never been to one of these family affair picnics, you

are in for a treat. It is a perfect opportunity to visit old friends

and classmates and exchange some good memories of your years at

Huntington High.

Ann Minnie, Nadine Hanson and Patsy Emmert have been very busy

planning this special reunion picnic. So, for this week, I thought we

would look back at the life of an individual who helped guide

Huntington High and the other high schools in the district through

part of that 100 years.

It was in the 1960s that Max L. Forney became the district’s

superintendent, and we will look at part of his life this week.

It was in Elgin, Ill., on Feb. 11, 1912, that Max Forney was born.

In 1918 his family moved to California.

After he graduated from high school, Forney attended La Verne

College and from there he would do his graduate work at the Claremont

Colleges. Forney began teaching classes and later would become an

administrator in La Verne and Coronado’s elementary schools.

During World War II, Forney was assigned as a gunnery officer from

1943 to 1946 in the South Pacific, and later retired from the

military with the rank of lieutenant.

Returning stateside, Forney became the vice principal of Monrovia

High School in 1948 and would later become its principal. He would

remain there for the next five years.

On July 1, 1953, Forney became the principal and superintendent

for the Santa Paula Union High School District. In this quiet

community, he, his wife Alice and their two children would live the

lives of a typical family of the 1950s.

Forney joined the Santa Paula Rotary Club and would later

represent this organization as its president. He was appointed a

member of Santa Paula’s recreation commission and was a member of the

Channel Athletic League.

The Forneys were active members of Santa Paula’s Methodist Church,

and he would serve on the church’s finance committee.

As the ‘60s began, Forney went to Rome for the opening days of the

1960 Olympic games. He watched the opening ceremonies with his

longtime friend Bob Richards, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in the

pole vault.

Returning to Santa Paula, he became an active campaigner and a

co-chairman of the city’s community chest campaign in 1961.

In 1962, Huntington Beach was the fastest-growing high school

district in the nation, and Forney accepted the position as its

superintendent. Leaving his position as Santa Paula’s superintendent

on June 30, 1962, Forney officially succeeded outgoing Huntington

Beach superintendent Gerald Lance on July 1, 1962.

The next morning, he would begin his first full day at the

district office.

With his son off to school in Oregon and his daughter married, Max

and Alice leased an apartment on Commodore Circle, and very shortly

had their own home on Trophy Drive.

Helping Forney that first year were Assistant Supt. Scott

Flanagan, Charles Mashburn, Edwin Anderson and Walter Winters. In

later years, Business Supt. Dr. Ethan Fullmer, Charles Mossteller and

Dr. Moll would join him.

It was during this time that my good friend Marcus Howard would be

working at Huntington High School.

In the 1960s, Forney attended the University of Southern

California to complete his doctorate degree.

Forney would remain the district’s superintendent throughout the

1960s and into the 1970s to become a part of the high school

district’s golden history.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian andHuntington Beach resident.

If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box 7182,

Huntington Beach, CA 92615.