Gil Coerper graduated with an Associate in Arts degree from Golden West in 1977, and it was merely a starting point. After serving in the Navy, he joined the California State Military Reserves, where he retired a Lt. Colonel. He served 39 years on the Huntington Beach Police Force, retiring in June 2002. Gil was elected to the Huntington Beach City Council in 2002 and again in 2006, becoming Mayor in 2007. The Boy Scouts of America awarded him an Award of Merit and, in March 2004, the Silver Beaver National Recognition Award, their highest award. Gil is busy giving “retirement” a new meaning – serving as an advisor on the Executive Board of the Huntington Beach Search and Rescue Post, a leader for the Military Boy Scouts Explorer Post based at Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base, an advisor on the California Police Officers Memorial Foundation, and as a congressional appointee to the Military Selection Committee for the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In his home town of Huntington Beach, Gil serves on the Children’s Needs Task Force, the Library Board, the Human Relations Task Force, the Council on Aging, and the Citizen Participation Advisory Board. Golden West College is proud to have been at the beginning of Gil Coerper’s remarkable and long-standing service to our community and our nation.
