Marvin Loney, a long-time resident, two-term mayor, and active member of the Lompoc community has died at the age of 91. He was born in Ingalls, Kansas on March 27, 1924, to a farming couple, Alfred Burdett and Anna Gertrude Hackler Loney. He was the youngest of seven children. His parents and siblings, Ella, May, Lee, Ralph, Marie, and James, all preceded him in death. He was joyfully baptized into the Lord at the age of seven, and attended Ingalls schools. He graduated from high school, having read all of the books in the school library.

During World War II, Marvin served his country in the U. S. Army Air Corps. His service as a B-17 flight crew member included 5 months in England and 30 combat missions over Europe with the 91st Bombardment Group of the 8th Air Force.

He served with distinction, was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal (with 3 Oak Leaf Clusters), attained the rank of Staff Sergeant, and "rested" between missions by exploring England on a bicycle and making several trips to London.

His service also took him across much of the United States, with brief visits to Trinidad, Brazil, and Morocco, since he was assigned to 36 places for "quarters and rations" in 35 months in addition to other travel.

Following the war, he settled in Wichita, Kansas, where he attended Wichita State University, worked as a Western Union dispatching clerk, and obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Economics, and Political Science. On December 21, 1947 he married Mary Alice Gleason. Their marriage lasted 63 years until Mary's death in 2010, at 89. After receiving his degree, the first in his family to do so, he did a year of graduate study for the ministry, at Abilene Christian College in Texas. During that year, their first child, Susan, was born. Upon the family's return to Wichita, Marvin got a job at Boeing Aircraft Company, where he worked for more than a decade. During those years, two more children, Steve and Sara, were added to the family.

During this time, his life revolved around the church in Wichita, family, work, and school for the children. "Dwight," as he was known then, served as a deacon and treasurer for the Emporia Avenue Church of Christ, and worked with inter-congregational efforts with the African-American congregations. Sometimes, he served as a visiting preacher in small towns in the area. He left Boeing to work with a friend, and then, as the aircraft industry in Wichita collapsed, eventually, for Martin Marietta. Two more children, Rebecca and Mike, were born during this period. Then, in October of 1963, his employer transferred him to the Vandenberg Air Force base area. He settled in Lompoc, and his family joined him in January, 1964, at the end of the school semester.

Upon his solo arrival in Lompoc, Marvin was chosen as Chairman of the Business Meeting at the Lompoc Church of Christ, during a period of leadership transition. As the family began to settle in, Marvin was laid off due to federal government spending cuts. So, for a year, he commuted to Santa Barbara as the business manager for Mission Paint. Then one day, his wife read in the newspaper that the City of Lompoc's Finance Director had resigned, and she met him at the door with the clipping when he came home. Waving the clipping, she said, "You can do this!" And he did—for almost twenty years.

That twenty years was filled with serving as a church elder/teacher/preacher, raising children, sending two children to college, marrying off children, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary, meeting six new grandchildren, and even helping raise one of them for several months. Marvin and Mary shared their interest in history by being very involved as board members and volunteers at the Lompoc Museum, and as decades-long docents and leaders for La Purisima Mission State Park's volunteer group, Prelado de los Tesoros. Marvin, Mary, and the two younger children, traveled frequently to visit family and relatives, and to see the country.

When Marvin retired from the City, he went to work for the Mission Hills Community Services District. After a couple of years, he decided to act on a life-long interest in politics. He ran for Mayor of Lompoc, and won by three votes. That made national news reports, and when he won by 14 on the recount, it proved that your vote does count! He served two terms, and by all accounts, served well. There is a tree planted in his honor at Recognition Grove in Beattie Park.

In the 50 years he lived in Lompoc he worked with a long list of other Boards, Commissions, and Organizations including the Lompoc Hospital Foundation Board of Trustees, the League of California Cities, the Boy Scouts, and the Lompoc Chamber of Commerce. In 2009, at the age of 85, he finally resigned from a decades-long post on the City Utility Commission, having been appointed by a succession of mayors.

Eventually, all five of their children left home. The Loneys celebrated first forty, and then fifty years together. Marvin, when asked to preach on the latter occasion, on the topic "How to Stay Married for Fifty Years," in typical, logical style, began, "Well, first, you both have to live long enough." After a brief, stunned silence, the congregation burst into laughter.

Marvin and Mary continued to serve God, and the church, worked as Museum volunteers and Mission docents, traveled, and welcomed great-grandchildren.

Then the children started coming back home. First, Mike for a number of years, and then Rebecca, helped Mary and Marvin weather their older years. They helped them through illness and injury, which allowed their parents to stay in their home. The night of New Year's Eve in 2010, just days after their 63rd wedding anniversary, Marvin sat next to his beloved wife's bed and held her hand as she died quietly. And his life changed again.

Some things never did change, though. God, the church, his family, history, politics, books, and animals were always the most important to Marvin until his death, on the 71stth anniversary of D-Day, in the presence of his children.

He is survived by his five children: Susan Loney Jones of Van Nuys, California; Steve Loney and his wife, Sharron, of Prineville, Oregon; Sara Loney Talbert and her husband, Paul, of Sebring, Florida; Rebecca Loney, and Mike Loney, both of Lompoc. He leaves ten grandchildren: Mike Jones (Oregon), Kim Jones Sumner and her husband Chad of Mallot, Washinton, Kristina Jones and her partner Patrick Fairman (Atlanta, Georgia), Ian Loney and his fiancée Angela Southard (Seattle, Washington), Jonathan Jones and his fiancée Juana Santoyo (Los Angeles, California), Kara Jones (Van Nuys, California), Jason Talbert (Florida), Troy Talbert (Florida), and Richard and Nathan Morford (Iowa).

His dearly loved great-grandchildren are: Lucas and Isabella Eckstein-Jones (Van Nuys, California), and Kash and Kruz Sumner of Mallot, Washington. Marvin is survived by dozens of cousins, nieces, nephews, neighbors, colleagues, friends, and brothers and sisters in the Lord. He will be missed by his family, his church family, and the community of Lompoc.

A viewing and visitation will be held Friday, June 12th at the Starbuck-Lind Mortuary in Lompoc, from 4:00 to 7:00 P. M. The afternoon of Saturday, June 13th, a Memorial Service is scheduled for 1:00 P. M. at the Lompoc Church of Christ, 138 North "O" Street, Lompoc, CA 93436. If desired, donations may be made to the Lompoc Museum, or Prelado de los Tesoros of La Purisima Mission State Historical Park.