Old Town’s Ronald “Chi” Kredell died last week. He shared his life with Nancey Kredell, his wife of six decades. The Green Belt on Electric Avenue is part of his legacy to Seal Beach.
A date and time for a celebration of life/paddle out for the former lifeguard has not yet been announced.
The next City Council meeting will be adjourned in Kredell’s memory, according to Mayor/District One Councilman Joe Kalmick.
Kredell lived most of his life in Seal Beach.
College Park East resident and current Planning Commissioner Patty Campbell was saddened by the news of his passing.
“He had a history here, from being a lifeguard to being on the City Council and mayor,” she said.
“He was a nice, nice man who really cared about this city and he only wanted what was best for Seal Beach,” Campbell said.
“He will be missed.”
They were friends and neighbors for many years, according to
Kalmick and Kredell were friends and neighbors for years.
“I met Chi almost immediately after I moved into town,” Kalmick said. Kredell’s mother owned Kalmick’s home at the time.
“He was a quintessential Seal Beach historical guy,” Kalmick said.
He said Kredell participated in many important events in the city’s history, such as when a developer wanted to build condos on the Green Belt. Kalmick said Chi Kredell was instrumental in preventing that. “I sort of grew up with him in town,” Kalmick said.
Local activist Elizbeth Kane, who profiled him, described him as a true gentleman and a true original.
“A truly gentle giant, teddy bear, and all around best,” Kane wrote in a social media post announcing Kredell’s passing.
“They do not make them like Chi anymore and he will be forever missed and in our hearts. Rest in Peace, dear friend,” she wrote.
Kane’s announcement drew 68 comments on more than one online platform.
Kredell apparently drew his nickname, “Chi,” from his birthplace of Chicago. According to a Sun profile of Kredell, published in 2016, a teacher gave him the nickname. His official first name was Ronald, but according to multiple sources he was one of four boys with that first name.
Kredell was born May 13, 1933. In the 1940s, his mother drove the family to California. They moved to Seal Beach. According to a Sun profile of Kredell, published in 2016, he fished off the Seal Beach Pier his first day here.
According to his family, he became a lifeguard at age 14. It was 1947.
He would later serve in the Navy during the Korean War.
He served in the Los Angeles Fire Department for about seven years. He also served on the Seal Beach City Council from 1976-83. According to his family, he won his second term by a landslide.
In 2010, he solved a local mystery. A Sphynx statute sat on top of a Seal Way house, according to a Sun article published that year. When the house was torn down, the Sphynx, a popular icon among local surfers, disappeared.
It took Kredell 30 years of detective work, but he found the woman who had recovered it when she was young, according to the article.
For details of Kredell’s life, visit “Neighbors to Know: Chi (Ronald) Kredell: a true Seal Beach original,” at https://www.sunnews.org/neighbors-to-know-chi-ronald-kredell-a-true-seal-beach-original/
Elizabeth Kane and Sun editorial staff contributed to this story.
