Rancho Mission Viejo's O'Neill Passes Away
Update: Senator Art Torres (ret.) has issued a statement, and services have been set for 11 a.m. Monday, April 13 at Mission Basilica in San Juan Capistrano. See more updates at The Capistrano Insider blog.
By Jonathan Volzke, The Capistrano Dispatch
Richard Jerome O’Neill, the patriarch of the Rancho Mission Viejo family known his interest in politics and adherence to the family motto of “Take care of the land and the land will take care of you,” passed away his home on the ranch east of San Juan Capistrano early Saturday morning at his home. He was 85.
O’Neill was a sixth-generation Californian. He spent much of his childhood in Los Angeles, where he was raised, and on the 200,000-acre Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores. The ranch spawned Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Las Flores and Ladera Ranch. Nearly 23,000 acres of Rancho Mission Viejo remain: when the land is ultimately developed, the vast majority – about 75 percent – will remain open space.
It was his grandfather, Richard O’Neill, who made the legendary handshake deal with James Flood in 1882 to become equal partners in the original ranch. Flood, who had made a fortune in silver, put up the money, and O’Neill, who had experience with cattle, worked off his half as ranch manager.
The land was divided three ways in 1941, with Richard O’Neill’s family getting the northern portion. Richard J. O’Neill and his wife, Marguerite “Daisy” O’Neill, had two children: Richard O’Neill (Dick), and Alice O’Neill Moiso, whose later became Alice O’Neill Avery. Anthony R. (Tony) Moiso is CEO and President of the ranch today.
When the freeway rolled through South Orange County in 1959, other families -- the Irvines, the Moultons, the Whitneys -- sold off their land, but Rancho Mission Viejo held on.
In an interview with The Dispatch in 2003, O’Neill recalled the area around the Ranch when he was young. Folks would sit in rocking chairs on the porch “watching nothing go by,” O’Neill said. “There’d be one car every half hour, and everybody knew everybody.”
O’Neill graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1941, then joined the Navy. “I went with a friend to sign up,” he told The Dispatch. “When we got there, there was a line down the street to sign up for the Army. You couldn’t see the end. So went to the Marine Corps’ table. The line was down the street again.
“When we got the table for the Navy, there was a Chief Petty Officer sitting at the desk, all by himself. So I signed up for the Navy.”
O’Neill claimed he thought he was signing up for the Naval Reserve, but soon found himself manning a machine gun aboard a ship. He saw some combat during his service, but also had another experience that would alter his life: His first taste of politics. One of his duties was to register sailors to vote, then hand out and collect their ballots before attesting to the validity of the votes. He took it very seriously, he said. The first vote he cast: For Roosevelt.
O’Neill began his political career after leaving the Navy, while at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo as a student volunteer in the presidential campaign of Harry Truman. He served on the 1956 Presidential Delegation and, in that same year, began an active association with the California Democratic Council. He continued to work on behalf of the Democratic ticket in 1960; and was active in Democrats for Cranston in 1964. O’Neill also became a member of the Orange County Democratic Central Committee in 1964 and served three terms as that group’s Chairman. In 1967, O’Neill became a member of the Executive Committee of the California State Democratic Central Committee; and, in 1968, he joined the steering committee for Senator Alan Cranston’s successful statewide campaign. O’Neill was elected Southern Chair of the California Democratic Party in 1974 and has continued to support Democrats at the local, county, state, and national levels throughout the years. O’Neill was elected State Chair in January 1979 and served a two-year term.
He married Donna Newman in 1951, losing his longtime love in 2002 when she passed away.
Ever since his college days, O’Neill had owned – with partners - some of southern California’s greatest bars and restaurants: The Glen in Beverly Glen, Los Angeles’ Blarney Castle, Bull ‘n Bush, H.M.S. Bounty, Black Forest, and Tiny Naylor’s. He bought the El Adobe de Capistrano restaurant – where folks use to sit and watch the occasional car pass by when he was child – in 1981.
O’Neill was also an active supporter of Hereditary Disease research efforts, and was involved in several other philanthropic causes. One of the major contributions known to Orange County residents is O’Neill Park, a multi-acre recreational area carved out of a portion of the ranch. O’Neill is also known for his support of historical and artistic projects, including a major contribution to the building fund of the South Coast Repertory Theater in Costa Mesa and the restoration of one of the original homes in San Juan Capistrano in conjunction with the historical society, which now calls The O’Neill Museum on Los Rios Street home. Moreover, O’Neill devoted much of his time to the Donna O’Neill Land Conservancy, a 1,300-acre wilderness preserved from ranch lands. O’Neill was also benefactor of the Athletic Scholarship program at Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) and of the Heart of Jesus Retreat Center in south Santa Ana as well as Mission Hospital.
Asked what he was most proud of during the 2003 interview, he paused. “I never thought about it … I haven’t done much,” he said. “I know I’ve done my best to preserve this Ranch.”
Services have not been set.
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Our community, county, state, nation has lost a great man. Rest in peace, Mr. O'Neill. Thank you for your contributions to our world.
My heart goes out to the O'Neill family.
Richard used to come into the Swallows Inn on monday steak night and order dinner and sit at the bar and engage his dinner companions of which there always quite a few in lively conversation about politics,the ranch,sports,the economy whatever came to mind and these weren't long drawn out boring dissertations but rather insightful jests at the follies of man's human nature of which he was a keen observer.
The last time I saw him in person was at ONeill's restaurant at Arroyo Trabuco golf course about eight months ago and he looked like he was failing health wise but he still gave me a hearty handshake and asked how the steaks were at the Swallows and wished me well with the sparkle in his eye that everyone talks about. I was happy on the Portola One Day Ride this past fall to ride out into a field with all the other riders and wave at Uncle Richard who was looking down from his house on the hill at the ranch. Viya Con Dios many will miss you!
Mr. O'Neill could cite correctly, every record and player,in any professional sport without hesitation. In a conversation, there was a twinkle in his eye, which translated into "whatever you think you know, I know far more." He was right.
Hope he bumps into my parents on his journey skyward, they haven't had the opportunity to just sit and talk in a long while.
Godspeed!!
As we all danced in a gathering at El Adobe a long time ago, may you always dance on the wings of Angels...we will miss you, Mr. O'Neill.
Dick was a kind and gentle man who had a great influence on me. We shared many good times. We cried together at the passing of his wife Donna in 2002. He kept her memory alive in her home, her garden, the arts, and on the Ranch. At her death he said, No one loved this land more than she. Today, we can be sure that Dick loved the same land, the community, and the whole of California as much as anyone could. We will all miss Richard O'Neill, a great Californian. Vaya con Dios.
Mr. O'Neill was a dear friend of mine. I will treasure his friendship for the rest of my life. My heart is very sad.
I will miss you Dick.