In Memory

Ronald G "Ron" Wheatcroft - Class Of 1954

Ronald G Ron Wheatcroft

Ron Wheatcroft, 69 real estate developer, humanitarian

Around Christmas, Ron Wheatcroft found a receptive audience for his generosity and holiday spirit: the homeless and downtrodden of San Diego.

In the mid- to late-1980s, he annually bought up to $2,000 worth of gift certificates from McDonald's restaurants and turned them over to the San Diego Police Department. Ultimately, the certificates would find their way into the hands of needy people whom officers encountered on their beats.

"He preferred gift certificates over cash because they couldn't be spent on something other than food," said his daughter Julie Wheaton.

Mr. Wheatcroft, who also contributed to the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego County as a longtime board member and fundraiser, died June 22 at Scripps Memorial Hospital-La Jolla. He was 69.

The cause of death was acute respiratory failure after surgery for prostate cancer, his family said.

In a career that spanned more than 40 years, Mr. Wheatcroft developed commercial and residential real estate as a partner in Lion Property and later as head of the Wheatcroft Co.

By the mid-1970s, Lion had become one of the foremost builders in burgeoning Mission Valley. The company also left its mark on coastal San Diego County, acquiring a 1 1/2 -acre site that was developed into Seagrove Park in Del Mar.

During his partnership at Lion Property with Doug Allred and Don Sammis, the company developed 2,013 residential units and about 1 million square feet of commercial and retail projects.

Mr. Wheatcroft's projects included the San Diego Tennis & Racquet Club, which opened in 1980 on Tecolote Road in the Bay Park area, and Sports Arena Village in the Midway District.

He continued to manage Sports Arena Village while semiretired in recent years, his daughter said.

Ronald Grant Wheatcroft was born May 13, 1936, in Pasadena, where he excelled in athletics as a youth. He was elected president of the Associated Student Body at South Pasadena High School and earned all-CIF Southern Section honors as a 6-foot-3, 185-pound end in football.

With academic and athletic scholarships, he enrolled in 1954 at the University of California Berkeley and majored in business. He started for the Golden Bears football team for three seasons and was named Northern California Lineman of the Year as a senior by the San Francisco Touchdown Club.

Playing on a 1-9 team as a senior, Mr. Wheatcroft was selected as most valuable player by his teammates. He also received the Bruck Muller Award as his team's most valuable lineman and the Ken Cotton Award for courage.

He went on to play in the East-West Shrine Football Game in 1958 in San Francisco. Although a National Football League team extended an offer, Mr. Wheatcroft opted for a business career, mindful of the concussion and knee and shoulder injuries he had suffered in college.

In January 1959, Mr. Wheatcroft joined Coldwell Banker in Los Angeles. The following year, he helped open the firm's San Diego office.

"He was a leading producer among all seven Coldwell Banker offices for nearly a decade," his daughter said.

In 1970, he joined Allred and Sammis in forming Lion Property. One of the first projects was an 86-unit apartment complex, Beach Colony, in Del Mar. Side-by-side office buildings in Mission Valley soon followed.

Mr. Wheatcroft, a Del Mar resident, supported Republican Party causes and candidates and led a remodeling project for his church, Solana Beach Presbyterian.

Survivors include his wife, Diana; daughters, Julie Wheaton of San Diego and Jill Flyckt of Rancho Santa Fe; son, Woods Wheatcroft of Sandpoint, Idaho; sister, Donna Diaz of Portland, Ore.; brother, Gary Wheatcroft (SPHS '50) of Pasadena; and seven grandchildren.

San Diego Union-Tribune, June 29, 2005

 



 
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07/08/09 04:13 PM #1    

Jack L Seal (1954)

Ron was one of my best friends as we were growing up, especially during our years while attending Marengo Grammar School. We remained friends throughout the years. We worked together at Woodruff's Mens store in Alhambra during Christmas vacation. He was a natural athlete and leader. He always seemed to have more confidence in me than I thought I deserved. He was without a doubt the best all around athlete I have ever seen. He could do it all on an athletic field and he was very humble about his accomplishments. I still cannot believe that in his junior year of high school he was selected as the CIF Football Player of the Year and in his senior year of high school he was selected as the CIF Basketball Player of the Year. In those days that covered all of the high schools from San Diego to Santa Barbara. I enjoyed seeing him again at our high school reunions, the last time being the 50th in 2004. I miss him tremendously and think about him often.  Ronnie is unforgettable. Jack L. Seal July 8, 2009


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