Remembering Weho Urban Designer John Chase

More than 200 friends, colleagues and loved ones gathered at Plummer Park on Tuesday for a memorial celebration for West Hollywood's urban designer John Leighton Chase. Chase died unexpectedly at his Los Angeles home Aug. 13.

Several guests who attended the memorial service wore bright colored shirts and fedora hats—a signature look of Chase's. A slideshow displayed pictures of a man who had many friends and was colorful in both his spirit and style.

During the memorial service, guests spoke at the podium about their personal experiences with Chase: cooking weekly Sunday dinners with him, being inspired by his passion for architecture and space, and sharing funny anecdotes about his character.

Chase served as the urban designer for West Hollywood for 14 years. In that position he influenced and shaped a new vision for design and planning, the city said. Chase influenced many significant projects such as the Santa Monica Boulevard Streetscape Project, the Historic Preservation Survey Update and the General Plan Update. 

"When I first got elected in 2001, John Chase was one of the first characters I met at City Hall, " said Mayor Pro-Tem John Duran.  "You see his fingerprints everywhere, all over the city." 

"Anything that's interesting, flamboyant, colorful [and] any particular design on a building that stands out—that's John Chase's legacy of what he's leaving behind," he said.

Before joining the city of West Hollywood, Chase was a principal at his own architectural consulting firm, Chase & Burnett Inc., the city announcement said. Chase also worked as an imagineer for Walt Disney Co. 

Chase was an instructor at several colleges, including USC, the city said. Chase earned his bachelor of arts degree from UC Santa Cruz and his master's degree in architecture from UCLA.