Huntington Resident Dick Littlestone Recognized for Years of Neighborhood Service

By ERIKA MARTIN | Reporter

On Tuesday, Feb. 2 the Huntington Palisades Property Owners’ Association (HPPOC) honored longtime Huntington resident Dick Littlestone’s years of persistent involvement in bettering the community.

HPPOC President Sue Jameson presented Littlestone with a plaque that will stand on the median he helped beautify at Ocampo and Alma Real drives, which is now named Dick Littlestone Corner.

The corner is the most visible contribution 92-year-old Littlestone has made to the neighborhood, Jameson said, but he is also responsible for many more under-the-radar improvements.

“Dick has spent years taking care of the Huntington Palisades,” she said. “All our street lighting is working and they have modernized wiring thanks to Dick. He has done street resurfacing and potholes throughout the Huntington, he’s done bumps and speed bumps, and the proper miles per hour signs.”

Littlestone humbly said the dedication went “straight through my heart.”

Littlestone’s community endeavors have not been confined to the Palisades. Last year, he was honored with the County Board of Supervisor’s first-ever Veteran’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his successful campaign to expand the capacity of the Los Angeles National Cemetery, a fight that took 10 years of wit and perseverance to win.

Jameson said Littlestone has the rare ability to “have the left hand speak to the right hand, which is an art, and very few people know that art in the city.”

Littlestone served in the Army a total of 33 years, earning decorations including the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star and more than a dozen other medals. He is also a retired UCLA professor who served as chair and professor in the UCLA Department of Military Science and associate director of the UCLA Computers and Information Research Program in the Anderson School of Management.

Littlestone moved to Los Angeles in 1929 when he was 6 years old. He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy in 1947 and one year later married his wife, Doris, with whom he has two children.