The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 132

0.j LOS. ANGELES TIMES A12 MONDAY, AUGUST 14, 1995 Obituaries CARDS: Reform Sought -i Esther Muir; Movie Actress, Comedienne w' i lenno; rrrM Leader in L. A. Sypsy Council -rBy MYRNA OLIVER JI.MES STAFF WRITER John Merino, a leader in both the "Cos Angeles-area and U.S. Romani -HtGypsy) councils who worked for rights for his people, has died.

He was 81. Merino, who lived in Ventura, died Aug. 4 in Los Angeles, his "'friend and civil rights attorney Barry A. Fisher said Thursday. Jtf Fisher said Merino was "unique hi his dedication both to preserving people's ancient tradition and to '-raising their political consciousness." was known by his people "'t6m coast to coast," the attorney said.

"A revered elder, he was rooted in tradition, yet saw with eyes the progress needed for the coming generations." known as Moyo in the "Romani language, headed a 12-member kris, or tribunal, that twice monthly or more to handle disputes among Los Angeles' 50,000 Gypsies. When the U.S. "Romani Council was formed in -1984 to fight racial prejudice, Meri- rib became the head of the Califor-' Wa chapter, representing the "State's estimated 200,000 Gypsies. In 1985, Merino was a delegate to a meeting of nationwide Gypsies in "the White House. That year he also "became the first Gypsy to light a candle in Congress' annual Holocaust Memorial ceremony.

In 1987, -he was named a special adviser to jonnjvi By MYRNA OLIVER TIMES STAFF WRITER Esther Muir, a blond wisecracking actress who appeared in about 70 films, including "A Day at the Races" with the Marx Brothers, in which she was memorably slathered with wallpaper paste, has died. She was 92. Miss Muir, who lived in Somers, N.Y., died Aug. 1 in a hospital in Mount Kisco, N.Y. Recalling with humor the wallpapering scene with Groucho Marx in the 1937 film, Miss Muir once said: "It was an unforgettable experience.

We played pranks and had many laughs in spite of the hard and messy work." Born in Andes, N.Y., in years variously reported as 1903 or 1895, Miss Muir first worked as a model during her teens in New York City and spent the 1920s as a Broadway actress. She won a role in a show called "Greenwich Village Follies" and appeared in other revues before landing the lead role in "My Girl Friday!" in 1929. Cast as the "dumb blond" comedienne, she toured with the Marx Brothers in a stage version of "A Day at the Races" before the production was.translated to film. Miss Muir made her film debut in "A Dangerous Affair" in 1931. Among her other movies were "So This Is "The Bowery," "Wine, Women and Song," "Un- Inglewood because no other track has a card club on' "the premises.

For months, Hollywood owners, led by major shareholder R.D. Hubbard, have pushed for legal relief to operate and de'rJVp direct profit from the Hollywood Park Casino, a card club they Built and opened at the track last y'ar but must lease to outsiders to; tuft The new law grants that relief with immediate effect. Two other tracks near San Francisco could benefit later. Golden Gate Fields in Albany has voter permission to install a club at "the track. The impending city votd 'ih San Mateo would authorize a card club at the Bay Meadows track! Nothing in the new law, howey-er, addresses the need for strong state oversight of the card club industry as called for by Lungren, Hayden, other lawmakers ah'd church -affiliated groups that lobby against gambling in all its forms; Its advantage is that it survived the legislative free-for-all "tiver gambling bills to reach Wilson's desk and become law, a fact credited to the astuteness of Sen.

Ma'ddy in rounding up sufficient corisctt- SUS. The Lungren measure introduced by Assemblyman Phillip Isenberg (D-Sacramento, made it through the Assembly much amended but is stalled in the Senate, igniting the latest of rffany battles that break out regularly- on the gambling front. Senate leader Bill Lockyer'lO-Hayward) has held up movement toward a floor vote of the Lungren bill until completion of a study, he commissioned of gambling's effects on California to the chagrin' ipf those pushing for the gaming control bill. bill doesn't need to "be studied any longer," said Lungren when he learned of Lockyer's decision. "It needs to be passed." Several supporters of the "bill said, on condition they would not be named, it appeared Lockyer was deliberately killing off chances that Lungren's bill would be passed this year "to keep the juice flowing" that is, political contributions rolling in to influence' the outcome for as much as one year longer.

Since 1990, gambling interests have contributed more Chan $6 million to statewide elected officials and legislators, according to records filed with the secretary of state. In the first six months of this year, major donors among those interests listed contributions. "I have not maneuvered, stalled nor derailed anything," Lockyer declared in a July 27 letter to a Northern California newspaper. Lockyer spokesman Sandy Harrison said that "juice has no role in this situation" and that Lockyer anticipates the study would be completed in time for the Senate Rules Committee to review, then vote on sending the Lungren bill to the floor for final passage before the Legislature recesses on Sept. 15.

Continued from A3 stronger legislation is not enacted, Sheldon said. The moratorium, however, is not likely to stop more clubs from opening, or even slow the process. With 251 clubs operating in the state and turning over about $8.4 billion a year in bets, there are license applications before the attorney general for 187 more. With all of those clubs licensed and running, plus pending applications to expand existing clubs, the number of card tables for players to bet at could rise to 5,429, more than triple the number now, according to the attorney general's records. None of the new or expanded license applications on file are affected by the moratorium beginning Jan.

1, and more applications are expected to pour in before the deadline. Also seeking to beat the deadline are' at least five cities that are planning elections this fall to authorize card clubs: Palm Springs, Irwindale, Pomona (where a similar measure failed in April), South San Francisco and San Mateo. If approved, like the existing clubs, the new gambling ventures would operate having received an initial screening by an understaffed unit in Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren's Department of Justice, and thereafter answer almost exclusively to local authorities.

These authorities, in turn, answer to local elected bodies who depend heavily on the taxes and fees they charge card clubs to pay for public services. Lungren has called this linkage tailor-made for conflicts of interest. His office has produced witnesses at legislative hearings who have testified to instances of rule-bending and outright crime occurring without vigorous intervention from local authorities or local authorities greeted with sanctions from their superiors when they lean too hard on a club. Tougher laws are needed to keep the industry clean, Lungren has said. He has proposed legislation to set up a powerful California Gaming Control Commission and a new unit in the Department of Justice for screening, monitoring and overseeing card clubs.

As for the law enacted this Lungren spokesman Dave Puglia said that it's no more than a "baby gaming regulation program," although a step in the right direction. He referred to new authority for the state to investigate racetrack card clubs and for the first time levy fees against the clubs to cover costs of the probes. But a separate part of the new law is also seen as a classic example of special interest pleading resulting in one-point economic benefit. Until now, California law has prohibited publicly traded corporations from operating card The new law exempts from that provision the owners of five California racetracks. But in fact, the measure benefits only one track immediately Hollywood Park in MANTLE: Popular, Storied Yankee Baseball Star Dies Los Angeles Times Esther Muir in 1947 known Blonde," "The Party's Over," "I'll Take Romance," "City Girl," "Battle of Broadway," "The Law West of Tombstone" and Marks the Spot." Her final film was "The Mayor of 44th Street" in the early 1940s.

She was married and divorced three times to choreographer-director Busby Berkeley, composer and producer Sam Coslow and Richard Brown, the president of a clock manufacturing company called General Time Corp. "My work," she once quipped, "helped compensate for. my poor choice of husbands." After her decade on stage and another decade on screen. Miss Muir went into real estate development, financing and supervising the building of more than 400 tract homes in Southern California. She is survived by her actress daughter, Jacqueline Coslow, of New York City, and two grandchildrea Mantle and his best drinking buddy, Martin, started many mornings with what they called the breakfast of champions a shot or more of brandy mixed with Kahlua and cream.

They joked about whose liver would go first. Martin was killed in an alcohol-related car accident in 1989. For Mantle, the sobriety he found at Betty Ford came with regret and recrimination, but also the hope that his final years would generate new and clearer memories to be remembered and savored. Unfortunately, he did not have much time to enjoy that sobriety, but Klintmalm, the Baylor surgeon, said Mantle's "ultimate home run" may be the impact his illness has had already and will continue to have on organ donations. Mantle is survived by his wife, Merlyn, and three sons, Danny, David and Mickey Jr.

The funeral is scheduled for Tuesday in Dallas. The Associated Press contributed to this story. 1 CAOAN, Harrr S. 1 Mount Sins! Mortusry EIDSON, Harold P. passed away Aunust 10.

1996. Loving husband of FUNERAL Cagan, Loi Angeles Times John Merino in 1986 the chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. Merino, a real estate investor and manager who had also been captain of the Hawthorne Police Reserves, wanted his life "to send a message to my people that it is possible to remain a Rom within that rich culture and heritage and yet be accepted in American society." Born in Oakland, Merino was a third-generation California Gypsy, the son of a coppersmith. Merino attended North Hollywood High School, graduated from Polytechnic High School and attended El Camino College in Torrance.

In high school, he became an award-winning track competitor and sang in the glee club, in marked contrast to his people's traditional avoidance of mainstream institutions and activities. Merino is survived by a son, Robert, of Los Angeles. Los Angeles Times in 1967, two years before retiring. it. I did nothing to strengthen my knees.

I never followed the rehab. I never lifted weights. "When the last World Series game was over, I didn't think about baseball until the spring. I blame that on stupidity." Mantle, however, would also blame his knee problems, in part, on DiMaggio. The two Yankee center fielders never became close.

Mantle long harbored a resentment over his first knee injury in Game 2 of the 1951 World Series against the New York Giants when he had to stop short to avoid a collision with DiMaggio in pursuit of a fly ball hit by Willie Mays, slipped on a sprinkler head and damaged the knee. "DiMaggio always wanted to look good out there," Mantle told Roger Kahn in his book, "The Era, 1947-1957." "That was very important to him. So he waited to call Willie's fly until he was damn sure he could reach it in stride. That's why I had to stop so short. If DiMaggio called for it earlier or if DiMaggio backed off and let me take it I don't believe I woulda hurt my knee." Kahn wrote that Mantle then looked into a glass of Jack Daniels and said, "Damn." For many of those years, during and after his playing days, which lasted from 1951-68, Mantle once said he was something of a cartoon character, and it was not until he entered the Betty Ford Center and found sobriety that he became a real person.

Mantle's regret-laced reminiscences may have been too harsh. Seldom has there been a more popular or storied performer. He hit 536 home runs to rank eighth on the all-time list A prodigious homer in old Griffith Stadium in Washington gave birth to the tape-measure home run when the late Red Patterson, then Yankee publicist, measured it at 565 feet. He launched a legendary rocket at the pre-renovated Yankee Stadium that nearly cleared the upper deck in right field, caroming off the facade. He was Mr.

October long before that sobriquet was applied' to Reggie Jackson. Mantle, as the centerpiece of the last Yankee dynasty, played in 12 0 OBITUARIES ANNOUNCEMENTS from Al (vight the cancer assisted the spread instead. "We can only specu-, Klintmalm said. "I Hthink his tumor would "have taken this course no matter what." Appearing gaunt and jrail, Mantle said at a July. 2S news conference that he had squandered a gifted life and warned admir-.

"era that he was no role JiodeU gave me the ability to play baseball. God gave me everything," he said. "For the kids out there don't be like me." How many wished they could, however. Signed as a teen-age shortstop off the Oklahoma sandlots for $1,100, Mickey Charles Mantle ultimately perpetuated ttiat royal lineage of Yankee immortals. Mantle He" succeeded Joe DiMaggio in center field and blazed a Hall of Fame career built on power and speed, a career remembered by many, including Mantle, in a context of what might have been.

Five operations on his right knee, the first as a 19-year-old rookie in 1951, eroded much of his speed and power. Alcohol and late nights cut into what was left. He was haunted by the genetic specter of Hodgkin's disease "If had known I was going to live past 50, I'd have taken better care of myself," he often said and the pressure of fulfilling the expectations of his father and others. Former Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodger General Manager Buzzie Bavasi said of Mantle: "If he had been healthy, he would have reached the same stratosphere as Babe Ruth." Wrote Mantle, in a first-person article for Sports Illustrated last year: "When I retired in the spring of '69 I was 37. Casey Stengel, the Yankee manager had said when I came up, 'This guy's going to be better than Joe DiMaggio and Babe It didn't happen.

I never fulfilled what my dad had wanted, and I should have. God gave me a great body to play with, and I didn't take care of it. And I blame a lot of it on alcohol. "My last four or five years with the Yankees, I didn't realize I was ruining myself with all the drinking. I just thought, this is fun.

Hell, I used to see guys come into Yankee Stadium from Detroit or Chicago; they'd be out taking batting practice, all of them with hangovers. But today I can admit that all the drinking shortened my career. "I mean, everybody tries to make the excuse that injuries shortened my career. Truth is; after I'd had a knee operation, the doctors would give me rehab work to do, but I wouldn't do it I'd be out drinking. The first time I hurt my knee, in the '51 World Series, I was only 19.

I thought, hey, I'll be all right. I hurt my knees again through the years, and I just thought they'd naturally come back. Everything had always come natural to me. I didn't work hard at of 14 World Series between 1951 and 1964, setting a series record with 18 homers. He holds four other World Series records, for most runs, runs batted in, total bases and strikeouts.

He won the American League's most valuable player award three times and the triple crown in 1956 with a .353 average, 52 home runs and 130 RBIs. When teammate Roger Maris broke Ruth's record by hitting 61 home runs in 1961, Mantle hit 54, his own pursuit of Ruth's record curtailed by an infection late in the season. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974. Former Yankee star Tommy Heinrich once said that watching a young Mantle hit baseballs was like watching him hit golf balls off a tee. It was a different era when Mantle made his debut at 19.

The electronic media were just starting to plug in. A celebrity could still live something of a private life. A periodic binge did not carry the stigma it now does. Mantle and teammate Billy Martin and friends could engage in a brawl at the legendary Copacabana nightclub in Manhattan without it dominating the headlines for more than a few days. Mantle, who was born Oct.

20, 1931, left small-town Oklahoma for the biggest of the big cities as something of a hayseed, longtime teammate Whitey Ford once said. Friends and teammates, people he didn't know, put drinks in front of him, and Mantle quickly adapted to the new lifestyle. Play hard. Live hard. The drinking turned serious when his father, Mutt, a tough and demanding miner who had enough energy after long days underground to pitch back-yard batting practice to his son as dinner turned cold, died of Hodgkin's disease at 39, soon after Mantle's rookie season.

"I was devastated, and that's when I started drinking," Mantle wrote in the Sports Illustrated article. "I guess alcohol helped me escape the pain of losing him." And coping with the genetic time bomb. A grandfather died of Hodgkin's disease at 40. Two uncles died of the same lymphatic cancer before they were 40. Billy Mantle, one of Mickey's three sons, battled the disease, became addicted to a painkiller and died of a heart attack at 36 in 1994.

Danny, another son, also went through Betty Ford and prodded his father to take the treatment "One of my biggest regrets is that I wasn't more of a father to the boys," Mantle once said. "I don't ever remember playing catch with them in the back yard. I'd invite them to lunch, which meant we shared drinks. If I hadn't always been drinking, I might have helped Billy get off the drugs, and Danny might never have had to go through Betty Ford." Instead, the years after his retirement became a blur, events of the preceding night forgotten the next morning. Mantle found new reasons to drink.

To steady his nerves at public appearances. To cope with the "emptiness and loneliness" when there wasn't an appearance. At his restaurant in Manhattan, OBITUARIES Kaplan, Betty R. Kassel, Emma G. Langford, Wllford A.

Ono, Shizue Palermo, William L. Pyka, Charlotte EL Rodriguez, Lenora C. Schneller, Frank R. Teragawa, Bill H. Tetrick, William F.

Harry S. Eidson, Harold P. Freedberg, Lawrence Hurtado, Jose Ige, Haruko In Memoriam VIRGINIA HESSLER July 14. 1915 August 14, 1993 The memories are beautiful and always in my heart ril love you forever mom, Kathy Cemetery Lots-Crypts FOREST LAWN, OLENOALE 3 mausoleum crypts. $2400.

Pp. Call 80S26S-1823 or 818 HUB 9257 Green Hilla-Palos Verdes 2 sgls. In Grace Lawn. SAVE 714-979-5086 2 lots Forest LawnEternal Love Hol-lywd HIS $1995 eaobo 818-367-3073 PP ftlnglewood Pk Family Plot 12 graves $800 ea. Cypress Sec 818846-6934 PP A Place In The Sun For Eternity.

4spcs Prime at 49! 3I08PP FOREST lawn, Hlywd Hills 2 adj lots In Hillside sect 80S297 S97S ROSE HILLS 2 Plots $1000 both. PP 818-286-6828 Charlotte E. age 87, of Oaks; born- December 21, Ilmenau, Germany; died 1995 at St. Joseph's in Burbank. Survivors; Anderson, daughter, of Holly S.

Hoffman, Calabasas: Rudolf A. brother, of Watertown, Kurt M. Schubert, of Folsom; 12 grandchildren, including; Brian W. Anderson Bruce H. Anderson of Country, Linda M.

Anderson Palm Desert; great-grandchildren. Brittnee R. Anderson and R. Anderson. Preceded by husband.

Max J. Pyka Manfred R. Pyka, Norman Pyka, Siegfried M. Pyka. 1pm.

August 15 at Lawn Giendale. Entombment August 18 in Acacia Cemetery. Chicago. Lenora C. Guerra-Outlerrei (213723-1125) Frank R.

Ouerra-Gutterrei (213723-1125) BUI HIdeto age 86. of World War II (442nd beloved husband of June; father of William Jonathan Earl (Laura), and Keiko (Dr. Peter Teragawa; grandfather three; uncle of many. service Wednesday, 16, at Evergreen Church, 1255 San Gabriel Rosemead with Rev. George Funeral Directors A friend of the MOUNT SINAI MORTUARY 800600-0076 213469-6000 DOCC UTTTt? Mortuary (310) 699-09 Located at Rose Hills MemorhPwr inWhittier rial' ii (It V4t.

Clntdalr Hollyivood Hilis Cypres Covma Hills Long Bemch FAMILY Literature CO. LmAnlei 1 9 I El 61 years to Lesste, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. Viewing from 4pm to 8pm, Monday, August 14 and Services 11am, Tuesday, August 15 at Pacific View Memorial Park, Newport Beach (714644-2700). FREEDBERO, Lawrenc Mount Slnal Mortuury HURTADO, Jose Oaerra-Outlerrei (213723-1185) ICE, Hank 80. Beloved wife of Yoshihide George Ige; mother of Paul H.

(Kimiyo) and David H. (Elaine) Ige; grandmother of Stacey Y. lge: sister of Yone (Sam) Fujlshima, Mary (Kenny) Uchida, Alice (Daiki) Otsuka, Torn! (Tad) Ota, and Bill (Anna) Nakada; aunt i oi many. I Funeral service will be held Fri-Iday, August 18, from lft30am at Los Angeles Holiness Church, 3660 iS. Gramercy Place, Los Angeles I with the Rev.

Eiichi Suzuki officiating. Fukul Mortuary (213 626-0441) directors i KAPLAN, Betty R. Gromsn-Eden Mortuary KASSEL, Emma Golfmaa beloved wife of Henry devoted mother of and Mariorie. She will forever remain in the hearts of her i adoring husband, children, and many mends. i In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Cedar-Sinai Medical Emergency Room or to the Los I Angeles Free Clinic.

Private family services were held at Hillside Memorial Park. Hillside Mortuary LANGFORD. Wllford Ardell Services Tuesday, August 15, 10am at Wah Wing Sang Mortuary 1 ONO, Shliue 88. Beloved mother of Shiro Keiko) Ono, Mmes. Keiko (Or.

Hideo) Yamane, and Marsha Mariko (Dr. Shoye) Iwos grand-; mother of five-, great-grandmother of two; aunt of Marlene Michiko Inouyei sister-in-law of Mmes. 1 Molo of San Jose, Mutsuko and Aiko Ono, the later of Japan. Private funeral services were held Friday. August 11.

1995 at Green Hills Memorial Park Chapel. Kubota Nikkei Mortuary directors PALERMO, William beloved brother of Beth Knippan; uncle of Earl F. and Robert C. Palermo; uncle-In-law of John and W. Lee Anderson.

i Services to be held Tuesday, August 15, 1995 at Wee Kirk o'che Heather, Forest Lawn Glen-dale. Forest Lawn Mortuary (213626 PYKA, Sherman 1907 in August 6, Hospital Gladys C. Palm Desert sister, of Schubert, Wisconsin; brother, of Tujunga, Canyon of Samantha In death and sons, M. Services Forest 10am, Park RODRIGUEZ, SCHNELLER, TERAGAWA, Veteran Regiment); Natsuko Keith, Dr. Carolyn Wainwright) of Funeral August Baptist TETRICK.

Our belovd lung cancer He was March 26, and a worked restaurant Clock. He Cerritos, graduatd School. parents, of Cathedral of Auburn; of Cathedral Canyon Also aunts, nephews, Suites and Cremation Services NEPTUNE SOCIETY 310831-0664 8187845-2415 880201-3315 Los Angel Burbank 0441) directors at. ARMSTRONG MALLCV-MITTKN MmiUMMOTBVnPlfMUMIpjMM1" Total $488 Free ALL A ORANGE (800) 286-6789 William (Billy) F. son, 45, passed away of on July 8, 1995.

born in Tiffin, Ohio on 1950. He was a bartender DJ. As a youngster he with his parents in their in Giendale, The Copper went to Horace Mann, Mayall, Roosevelt, and from Giendale High He is survived by his Robert and Mariquila City; brother, Bob Jr. sisters, Nina Lynn Novak Encino, Evelyn Rieth of City and Linda Tetrick of Country, all in California. uncle, nieces, and cousin in the United the Philippines.

I imes Obituary Information Mon-Sat 8:30 am-4 pm (closed Sunday) CaH Ms. Ryan 1-600-628-4637 Ext 77241 or Ext77242 CostAnncle) SHntea) Groman Mortuary.