Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council

In Memory of Dr. Lloyd Hitt

Biography

 William L. (Lloyd) Hitt,

Lloyd Hitt  was born in San Jose in1932. His father, William C., was a licensed flyer and aircraft mechanic at Moffet field in Northern CA. His mother, Loraine, a native of Oregon, was a homemaker. He had one sister, Marilyn, who was four years younger than him.
   His father took a job at Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica, where he started out as a licensed aircraft mechanic. Because of asthma in the family they moved to the San Fernando Valley. In 1942 Douglas Aircraft opened a plant in Daggett where his Dad was chief inspector where he and his sister attended one room schools in Daggett and Newberry Springs. After the war they moved to Tujunga because of asthma and his father continued to work for Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica. Lloyd graduated from Verdugo Hills High School in 1949 and attended Glendale College for 2 years on a deferment from the Korean War draft. He had been working in Sunland Pharmacy part time since 1947 and decided on Pharmacy as a career, but lacked the funds to study at USC.
   He attempted to join the Army Air force but was drafted before he was accepted. When he arrived in Korea in the spring of ’53, he was assigned to the 7th Div, 32nd Regiment in a machine gun squad that was in reserve, but worked on the main line of defense during the day. In early July they moved on line taking over an outpost from the Ethiopians. A few days later they were attacked; the same night as Pork Chop Hill which then was held by the 17th Regiment. The Ethiopians returned a day later and they reinforced the 17th on Pork Chop Hill. In four days they had lost over 240 men, some never to be found and over 800 wounded, all just 15 days prior to the signing of the “cease fire.”.
   In 1954 Lloyd returned home & enrolled at UCLA under the GI Bill for a year, then transferred to the USC School of Pharmacy where he graduated in 1959 as a Doctor of Pharmacy. He was president of the School of Pharmacy Student Council in his senior year and pharmacy representative to the greater USC Campus Council and the So. California Pharmacy Association. Lloyd was a member of Phi Delta Chi, Rho Chi, Skull & Mortar, and the USC Skull and Dagger Honor Society at USC, and in 1960 became president of the Doctors of Pharmacy Association. During the USC period Lloyd married his war time sweetheart, Marlene Hober in 1956. She was attending Occidental College for her teacher's credential and degree while He attended USC.
   They moved back to Sunland in 1959, bought a home and started a family. He took over the management of Hobers Sunland Pharmacy, a family pharmacy where Marlene and later their children worked. and grew up. In all, the two family pharmacies in Sunland lasted 56 years with Sunland Pharmacy as the first drugstore in Sunland. Oric Hober had opened the pharmacy on Eldora and Foothill in 1939). During that period Lloyd was involved in Life for India setting up and supplying a medical clinic in rural India. Here at home Lloyd worked with local physicians setting up free clinics for polio, tetanus and flu vaccine in schools and in the banks of Sunland-Tujunga.
   Their pharmacy grew because of the service they provided to all their customers. Before patient counseling was mandatory they were already advising their patients. They had the second computer kiosk in California that provided in-dept counseling directly to the patient on interactions and side effects. In 1996 Lloyd decided that he could no longer provide the kind of service that patients needed on the payment provided by the third party insurance companies and called it a day. He says he can not thank often enough, the 1000's of customers, employees, pharmacists, students, and family that took part in the Hober's Experience.
   Upon retiring Lloyd looked for another way to serve our community and began to volunteer at Bolton Hall Museum. He has been president of Little Landers Historical Society since 1999 and he is proud of what their members have been able to accomplish in the community. With Lloyd's guidance, the museum has grown because their programs are relevant to the needs of Sunland-Tujunga. When the Bolton Hall building was in disrepair and Little Landers Park a disaster, He and his group worked with the Council office to make repairs and redevelop the park. When they saw historic properties that they believed were a very important part of our neighborhoods, and our identity, about to be razed, they stood up to the task of fighting to preserve them. The Stonehurst neighborhood is the most recent example of neighborhood preservation.
    Lloyd also serves on the on the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council’s Land Use Committee, also known as the DAC. and is also a supporting member of many local organizations: Friends of McGroarty, Friends of the Library, the poetry groups, and the Coordinating Council. Lloyd is the  “go to person” for anything anyone wants do or needs to know about Sunland-Tujunga. 
   The Sunland-Tujunga Community proudly presents Lloyd Hit  with this “Top Rock” award in honer of his loyalty, dedication and commitment to our community.