Memorial Mass announced for former LA Mayor Richard Riordan
LOS ANGELES - A memorial Mass honoring the life of former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan will be celebrated Friday at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, it was announced Monday.
Riordan died Wednesday at age 92, with his family announcing he "passed peacefully ... at his home in Brentwood, surrounded by his wife Elizabeth, family, friends and precious pet dogs."
Archbishop José H. Gomez will preside over Friday's 2 p.m. Mass, and the homily will be delivered by Msgr. Lloyd Torgerson, pastor at St. Monica Catholic Church, which was Riordan's parish, according to he Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
The Mass will also be live-streamed at youtube.com/olacathedral.
Following his death, Riordan, who was mayor from 1993-2001, was remembered for helping rebuild Los Angeles following the twin challenges of the Rodney King riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
His memorial Mass will take place in the cathedral whose construction he helped expedite following the severe damage incurred by its predecessor, the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana, in the Northridge quake. The new cathedral opened in 2002.
Riordan's death produced an outpouring of tributes, including the illumination in city colors last Thursday night of City Hall, the Richard J. Riordan Central Library, the LAX pylons, the L.A. Zoo and the 6th Street Bridge.
A venture capitalist and L.A. restaurant owner, Riordan was the only Republican to hold the nonpartisan mayor's position since 1961, when Norris Poulson lost a bid for a third term. Rioran succeeded Tom Bradley, who held the position for a record 20 years.
Riordan took office slightly more than a year after the rioting that followed the verdict in the state trial of the Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the beating of motorist Rodney King, then had another challenge to face in his first year in office -- the Northridge quake.
"Mayor Richard Riordan loved Los Angeles, and devoted so much of himself to bettering our city," Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement last week.
"Mayor Riordan's legacy includes our city's iconic Central Library, which he saved and rebuilt, and which today carries his name. In the wake of the Northridge earthquake, Mayor Riordan set the standard for emergency action. He reassured us and delivered a response with an intensity that still pushes us all to be faster and stronger amidst crisis. Though born in New York, Mayor Riordan will be remembered as an L.A. original."
Riordan was born May 1, 1930, and grew up in New Rochelle, New York. He attended Santa Clara University, where he played on the football team, and after two years transferred to Princeton.
Following his time at Princeton, he served in the Army in Korea and eventually moved to Southern California with his first wife, Eugenia "Genie" Warady. They had five children and he built a law practice, eventually founding Riordan & McKinzie.
Riordan is survived by his fourth wife, Elizabeth Gregory,; three children; three grandchildren; and a sister.