Larry Chimbole, Palmdale’s first mayor who led the effort to incorporate the city, the first state assemblyman from the Antelope Valley and a World War II veteran, died Tuesday. He was 96.
Chimbole was remembered by family and friends as a true gentleman, who was passionate in everything he did from the development of the city to his family.
Whether you were one of Chimbole’s good friends – he had friends from high school whom he kept in touch with – knew him through his civic involvement or met him only once or twice at a charitable function, he made a lasting impression.
“He could work a room like a room like nobody else I’ve known,” said Dayle DeBry, who edited a book that Chimbole wrote in 2006 on the incorporation of Palmdale.
Chimbole would make sure he visited every table and greeted every person, making each individual feel special in the process.
He remained active in civic life into his 90s.
“He had a bigger social calendar than I did,” said his granddaughter Reana Thierman, who became his caretaker. “He was busy all the time. He would wear me out.”
Last month he attended a ceremony for the unveiling of a life-size bronzed statue of himself seated on a bench across from City Hall in Ponticlan Square. Thierman said her grandfather called her the morning of the ceremony and said he didn’t feel up to going. Thierman convinced him to go and no one in the audience — 200 people — would have suspected that he wasn’t feeling up to it.
“He was in rare form,” DeBry said.
Chimbole was born in New Haven, Conn. on May 22, 1919. He served as a B-29 radio operator in the Army Air Corps on the Pacific Island of Tinian. In a foreward to a book DeBry wrote on Antelope Valley veterans, Chimbole wrote that residents should honor their veterans, but added: “But in my somber moments, I say a prayer that some day, wars will end; world strife will cease and then maybe we can strike the words ‘veteran’ and ‘war’ from our vocabulary.” Chimbole gave his war memorabilia to DeBry so that it can be on display in the city, including a rosary his mother gave him that he held onto throughout the war.
Chimbole moved to Palmdale in 1957. He opened a hardware store where he became active in the politics of the community. He was president of the Kiwanis Club and then president of the Palmdale Chamber of Commerce. He was one of the “50 Grand Men” who donated money to fund the incorporation of the city in 1962. He was elected as the city’s first mayor and served on the City Council for 12 years.
He shied away from the title that many residents have bestowed on him of “Mr. Palmdale,” though. He would say that honor is reserved for Domenic Massari, another one of the “50 Grand Men” for whom a park is named after.
Chimbole’s legacy will not only live on his statue, but also in the city’s cultural center that bears his name.
Chimbole served in the state Assembly from 1974 to 1978.
He helped bring the Lockheed Martin Assembly plant to Palmdale and helped establish the Antelope Valley’s freeway system.
A staunch and proud Democrat, he was proud to work across the aisle in an area that is predominately Republican.
“Larry was a good friend and tireless public servant instrumental in the incorporation of the city of Palmdale development and the growth of the Antelope Valley,” L.A. County Supervisor Michael Antonovich said in a statement. “We always worked well together when we both served in the state Assembly and later when I was elected to the Board of Supervisors,” Antonovich, a Republican, added.
Chimbole served on various board and committees, including the Antelope Valley Hospital Board of Directors, the Antelope Valley Board of Trade, the State Board of Landscape Architects and the Antelope Valley Fair Board of Directors.
“He was so passionate about politics that really was the core of him,” said Stacia Nemeth, former Palmdale Chamber of Commerce CEO. “He loved helping people.”
In his later years, he would still attend City Council meetings and tell them “how to run the city,” Nemeth said.
“Larry always had an opinion. No question about it,” Mayor Jim Ledford said in an interview.
He said the city “lost a good friend and a great advocate.”
“Palmdale was his passion,” Nemeth said. “He truly loved promoting Palmdale and all things Palmdale.”
Of Irish and Italian heritage, he loved Italian food and would cook his signature sausage and peppers dish. He enjoyed antiquing and collected old radios and antique colanders.
He held a big Super Bowl party at his home every year since the 1970s, his granddaughter said.
Thierman said her grandfather was loving, sweet and one of the most romantic people she knows. Thierman was especially close with her grandfather since her grandparents raised her since she was 3 years old.
“He put so much energy into everything,” she said. “He cared so much about people.”
Chimbole developed the tradition of presenting single red roses to each of the women who attended different events. He is the only male member of the Palmdale Women’s Club, an honor he was proud of.
Chimbole’s wife Vicki died in 2011. He credited her with his election to the state Assembly with her sparkling personality and true Southern charm. She was born in Memphis and raised in Greenwood, Mississippi.
Chimbole is survived by his children Stephen Chimbole and Patricia Bollman; grandchildren David Bollman, Reana Thierman, Nicole Mercy, Tina Mariani and Michael Distefano and great-grandchildren Katelyn and Gracie Thierman, Temple, Tatum and Theo Mariani and Autumn Bollman.
A visitation will be held Tuesday from 3 to 7 p.m. at Chapel of the Valley Mortuary, 1755 E Ave. R, Palmdale, CA 93550. Services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 1600 E Ave. R-4, Palmdale, CA 93550. The burial ceremony will be held at Desert Lawn Memorial Park, 2200 E Ave. S, Palmdale, CA 93550. A reception will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at the Chimbole Cultural Center, 38350 Sierra Hwy., Palmdale, CA 93550. Please bring a photo or written memory to share.
