Fan of rescues

Standing on the patio of The Cannery restaurant looking out at Newport Harbor, Jack Croul said he thinks he must be blessed.

“What a beautiful day,” said Croul, wearing Nike running shoes with his blazer and palm tree-patterned tie.

Once the site of a real cannery, Croul saved the waterfront piece of property where the restaurant now sits from being turned into condos by purchasing the land and finding a restaurateur to run a chic eatery out of a new replica of the old factory.

“The harbor has lost most of its commercial use over the years, which is a shame,” Croul said.

Croul likes to rescue old things. He collects cars, but also owns a Lockheed P-38 lighting, a World War II-era American fighter plane. A fighter plane navigator during World War II, Croul flew 33 missions over Germany. The P-38 accompanied the fighter planes on longer trips.

“I have a sentimental attachment to it because of that,” Croul said.

Croul moved to Newport Beach in 1957, when the area was “practically country,” he said. The developed stretch of land around the Balboa Bay Club was “nothing but sand” at the time. The former Chairman of Behr Process Corp., Croul sold the company in 1999 and has since focused on traveling, his cars and philanthropy.

The Croul Family Foundation, which Croul oversees, donated about ?$3.4 million last year to charitable groups, most of it to homeless shelters, food banks and nonprofit groups like United Way. Croul’s other charitable cause is Newport Beach politics. His affection for his community led him to pour about $680,000 into the successful Measure B campaign. Approved by voters in February, the measure requires Newport Beach to build its next city hall on a piece of city-owned land in Newport Center.

“It just seemed like a slam dunk to me,” Croul said. “It was a tough fight, but we won.

“Croul also has backed District 7 City Council Candidate Dolores Otting in the upcoming election. He has given $25,000 to an independent expenditure group Taxpayers for Safer Neighborhoods to support Otting’s campaign.

“I’d like to see the city run well,” Croul said.