RIP Mayor Bricken

Gordon Bricken, the former Santa Ana mayor who spent more than a decade walking Orange County cemeteries to find graves of former Civil War soldiers, lost his battle with cancer on Monday. He was 76, according to the O.C. Register.

From 1964 to 1974 he served on the Santa Ana Planning Commission where he developed an interest in Santa Ana history. In 1974 Gordon was appointed to the City Council where he served until 1984. He was Mayor from 1981 to 1983 and was instrumental in obtaining the All-American City Award for Santa Ana.

Bricken’s daughter Patricia shared her feelings about the passing of her father on his Facebook page, “Today, the world lost a great man. My father passed away peacefully after battling cancer for 3 years. He has been Santa Ana City Councilman, Mayor, SAN Rotary Club president, Studebaker Club president, historian and many other things. But his greatest job was being a wonderful father to myself and my sisters and an outstanding grandfather (grandpal) to his 7 grandchildren. Please keep him and our family in your prayers and thoughts.”

Bricken was the President of Bricken and Associates, an environmental services company that specialized in Acoustical Consultation.

He was born in Kentucky and his mom raised him to respect those who fought in the Civil War.  Eventually he started looking for the graves of Civil War veterans and he ended up finding 803 Civil War veterans buried in a dozen Orange County cemeteries, according to the O.C. Register.

Bricken eventually paid $9,000 to self-publish a 200-page book he titled “Pioneers in Blue and Gray.” It lists every one of the graves he found, and every one of those soldiers. It has nearly 300 short biographies and a history of the forces that pushed them into war and, later, brought them to Orange County, according to the O.C. Register.  You can buy that book here for $35.

In Bricken’s time as a Santa Ana elected official the Republican Party ruled this city – and as you can see in the picture above he even hung out with the likes of President Ronald Reagan.  Today there are no more Republicans on our City Council and the last one to serve was disgraced former Councilman Carlos Bustamante, whose sex crimes trial started this week.

Bricken was also heavily involved with the Santa Ana North Rotary Club; he was the only member who served twice as president of the rotary chapter, according to his rotary colleagues , as reported by the O.C. Register.

Bricken graduated with a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Loyola Marymount University and a master’s degree in electrical engineering from UCLA, according to his wife.  His Facebook page mentions that he also went to St. Monica Catholic High School.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Maureen Bricken; four daughters, Barbara Amy, 49, Mary Poprac, 48, Patricia Bricken, 45, and Victoria Gephart, 40; and seven grandchildren, Kalina Poprac, 14, Alyssa Gephart, 13, Johnny Poprac, 11, Rebecca Gephart, 11, Julia Poprac, 9, Nathan Amy, 9, and Joshua Amy, 6.

Services will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Santa Ana. A vigil service is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, June 24; a funeral Mass is set for 12:10 p.m. Tuesday, June 25. Burial will follow at Santa Ana Cemetery.