GIL COERPER served 39 years in the Huntington Beach Police Department before serving on the City Council and as mayor (HBPD photo).

Gil Coerper, a former mayor and member of the Huntington Beach City Council died on Sunday, according to the HBPD, of which Coerper served as a police officer for 39 years. He was 82.

After his retirement he was twice elected to the city council, serving from 2002 to 2010. He held the mayor’s gavel in 2006.

Coerper was born and raised in Kenosha, Wisc. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, and later joined the California State Military Reserve, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel.

He was long active in the community, working with Boy Scout Explorers, the California Peace Officers Memorial Association and the California Peace Officers Research Association.

While on the council, he led the adoption by the city of the Third Battalion, First Marine Regiment at Camp Pendleton. Huntington Beach now supports and assists the families of hundreds of Marines in their stateside and overseas deployments.

The family has asked that in lieu of flowers that a donation be made to the Gil Coerper Academic Scholarship, in care of the Huntington Beach Police and Community Foundation, P.O. Box 4538, Huntington Beach, CA 92605.