In Memory

Hubert G "Mike" Toll - Class Of 1951

Hubert G Mike Toll

Developer Mike Toll Killed in Crash of Private Plane

Hubert G. (Mike) Toll, who built a construction empire from humble beginnings in Gardena 20 years ago, died November 1, 1988 when the airplane he was piloting crashed and burned in a desert town 20 miles west of Palm Springs.

Toll, 55, was the owner of H. G. Toll Co., with offices in Wilmington; Telluride, Colorado, and Tucson and Scottsdale, Arizona. The firm has built 3 million square feet of commercial and industrial projects in the southwestern United States during the last five years, said Chuck Toll, president of the firm and Hubert Toll's brother.

Toll, who lived in Rolling Hills, was flying alone on a business trip from Torrance Municipal Airport to Tucson when he radioed ground controllers that one of the two engines on his Cessna 421 had failed, said an investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board.

Later, about 4 p.m., Toll told controllers that he would try to land the plane on Interstate 10. Family members speculated that the freeway was too crowded, and authorities said Toll instead tried to land in a field in Cabazon, a town along the interstate.

The 6-seat plane clipped the tops of several telephone poles and a house before slamming into the ground and bursting into flames, the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said.

The pilot appeared to steer the plane away from homes and Hadley's Fruit Orchard store, a popular tourist stop that was filled with nearly 200 people, a store supervisor said.

Federal officials are investigating the crash.

Toll had been flying for more than 20 years, according to his brother. "If you fly for that long, you could crash," Chuck Toll said, "but I always thought he would walk away from a crash. If you talked to anyone who knew him, they thought he was invincible."

Toll was flying to Colorado last year with his wife when an engine in the same plane failed over the Grand Canyon. He was able to land safely in Las Vegas and learned that engine had a cracked cylinder, said Bonnie Toll, his wife of 30 years.

"I thought that might be it," she said. "But he was a very good pilot. Everything worked out that time."

Toll was a fourth-generation Californian whose grandfather, Charles H. Toll, was a Los Angeles city councilman and co-founder of what later became Security Pacific Bank.

The younger Toll was raised in San Marino, graduated from South Pasadena High School and received a bachelor's degree in engineering from Cal Poly Pomona.

He worked for several construction companies before 1968, when he founded his own firm in Gardena with "one room, one secretary and a couple of shovels," Bonnie Toll said.

"He did it all on his own," she said. "He was a real dynamo."

Among Toll's large endeavors in the South Bay was the 1984 remodeling and expansion of the Rolling Hills Shopping Center in Torrance. The $16-million project added a 6-screen movie theater and other amenities to the 37-acre center.

He also built laboratories in Arizona, ski condominiums in Colorado and shopping centers and industrial buildings throughout the Southwest, Bonnie Toll said.

Two years ago, the builder argued unsuccessfully against a plan by the city of Los Angeles to place a moratorium on construction of high-density apartments in Wilmington. Toll said high-density apartments were needed to provide affordable housing in the working-class community. But homeowners said they wanted more single-family homes, and the City Council adopted the moratorium.

Other survivors include two daughters, Sherry and Peggy Toll, and a son, Michael Toll.

Los Angeles Times, November 4, 1988