Los Angeles Law Figure. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he was noted for being the leader of the nation’s largest sheriff’s department. After serving in the US Army in World War II, he studied engineering at the Washington University St. Louis Missouri, before relocating to Los Angeles, California, in the mid 1950s. In 1956, he joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as a deputy and worked his way through every rank being elected the department’s 29th Sheriff in 1982. For the next sixteen years he was not only L.A. County’s longest serving Sheriff, but also the highest paid elected official in the United States. He died following surgery for the removal of a blood clot at age 74, five days before Los Angeles County voters were to decide whether to give him a fifth term. (bio by: John “J-Cat” Griffith)  Family links:  Spouse:  Alyce Block (1923 – 2010)* *Calculated relationship