LOCAL BENEFACTOR HON DIES AT 60.

Byline: Mary Schubert Daily News Staff Writer

Attorney Dan Hon, who was active in charitable and civic activities across the Santa Clarita Valley, died over the weekend after a nearly two-week hospitalization. He was 60.

Hon, who lived in Canyon Country and Newhall for a combined 29 years, had been admitted to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital on Dec. 8 for treatment of internal bleeding and liver problems. He died about 4 a.m. Saturday.

A longtime member of the Santa Clarita Elks, Hon will be remembered by the club Sunday with a 2 p.m. memorial service at the lodge, 17766 W. Sierra Highway.

His widow, Ellen, said Hon would be cremated and his ashes scattered at sea. Her husband had long had a fondness for the ocean, having grown up in Laguna Beach and having spent a summer during his youth working on a tuna boat based in San Pedro, she said.

``We used to go to Baja California and go deep sea fishing and surf fishing,'' Ellen Hon said. ``He loved the ocean.''

Beside his wife, Hon is survived by a daughter, Debbie, of Hawaii, and a son, David, of Washington, both 32.

City parks Commissioner Laurene Weste knew Hon for three decades, and had worked on several community activities with him. ``He was not only a man with a strong sense of community and a keen sense of justice, he was a doer. If Dan saw a problem, Dan sought a solution,'' she said. ``He used his time as well as his professional talents to help out.''

Weste said Hon often donated his legal services to help senior citizens, taking cases pro bono. ``He loved the elderly and felt that they needed strong advocacy,'' she said.

``He was strongly opinionated, but that was always counterbalanced with: `I can learn a lot from other people,' '' Weste added. ``He always had an opinion, but he was willing to change it if he saw a better way.''

Accountant Gary Condie, president of the board of directors for the Santa Clarita Valley Boys & Girls Club, said Hon was instrumental in bringing the organization to town 21 years ago. Hon also worked to establish Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital and served on the board of directors for the Santa Clarita Valley YMCA.

``Dan was one of the driving forces in helping get the hospital started,'' Condie said. ``He gave a tremendous amount of time back to the community (and) was always looking for ways to make the valley better.''

An attorney for 35 years, Hon's San Fernando Road practice specialized in real estate law and probate matters. For the past few years, he had served on Los Angeles County's assessment appeals board, as an appointee of Supervisor Michael Antonovich, Ellen Hon said.

The panel listens to arguments from property owners and the county Assessor's Office about the value of a piece of property, and renders a decision on whether the assessed value should be raised or lowered, said his widow, a small claims filing clerk at Newhall Municipal Court.

Shortly after finishing law school, Hon entered the U.S. Air Force. He and his wife spent the next six years stationed in South Carolina, Monterey and Japan - working for the Judge Advocate General's Office in the latter assignment.

During their three years oversees, the couple adopted their daughter in Korea. The Hons adopted their son upon returning to the United States.

Among his projects over the years was a failed campaign for Canyon Country to secede from Los Angeles County. ``Out here, a group of people wanted to separate from L.A. County because we felt neglected,'' Ellen said. He later became involved in Santa Clarita's cityhood campaign.

``He knew if we had cityhood . . . we would have the local control,'' Weste said.

Other community involvement included being perennial master of ceremonies for a wine auction, the proceeds of which benefited the Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center's Meals on Wheels program.

``My husband was very generous, and if people needed help, he helped them,'' Ellen Hon said. ``He was definitely a people person.''

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Hon's name to the hospital.