Orange County newspaperman Charles H 'Chuck' Loos, who spent 40 years reporting on Orange County and training reporters, died March 26, 2015, at age 80.

Chuck began his career at the Daily Pilot in 1961, covering county government and later education. Before that, he graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and served a tour of duty with the US Army. He left the Daily Pilot in 1982 to work as executive editor for a group of San Gabriel Valley weeklies. He was then recruited to start a business weekly in Irvine. He ended his career as associate editor of the Irvine World News.

Chuck was proud of covering most of Orange County's biggest stories, including the Nixon years at the Western White House in San Clemente and the county's bankruptcy. He retired in 1999 after the death of his first wife, Judith Harrington Loos. He then discovered a new passion in golf - a sport his father had played professionally.

Chuck is survived by his wife, Phoebe Jenks Loos; son Scott (Sara) of Santa Ynez; daughter Joan and her partner Monica Tuscher of Laguna Beach; five grandchildren; and sister Margot Loos Downs (SPHS '48). A son, Michael, died in 1991.

The Orange County Register, March 31, 2015

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Veteran Story

 U.S. Army -- artillery
1959 -- 1961
Specialist 4 (E-4)

Clerk-typist School
Good Conduct medal
Battery clerk (equivalent of Company clerk)

Stationed: San Rafael Nike Site (surface to air missiles), Battery C, 2nd Battalion, 30th Artillery Group
San Rafael, CA
This was a combat ready unit equipped with Nike Ajax and Nike Hercules surface to air missiles. Our mission was to shoot down enemy aircraft in the event of attacks in the Bay Area. The Hercules missiles carried atomic war heads.
I worked for a First Sergeant who retired and a succession of three different Sergeant Majors during my time with this unit.

Our unit was near the Marin County Civic Center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. MPs and their dogs patrolled each night between two cyclone fences surrounding our launch area. We weren't supposed to tell anybody we had atomic warheads, but about every 200 yards there were signs on the outer fence that read "No admittance by order of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission." Secret blown. Our battery commander was a captain who had received a battlefield commission in Korea.

Most of the other officers were West Point graduates. As the chief clerk I didn't pull any KP or guard duty and I had my own room in the barracks. Not bad duty. I did not see combat and I was not a hero. I was a citizen soldier (draftee) and did my job. Good enough, I guess, to be solicited by the battalion commander to re-up as the replacement for his chief clerk who was moving on. I respectfully declined and rejoined civilian life spending 40 years in the news business as a writer and editor.