| Maurice Sheldon Katz, a Vietnam veteran who devoted his life to helping the community, died June 27 at Veterans Hospital in Long Beach. He was 62 years old. Katz had been active in Great Outdoors and served as a docent for the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Ennis House. He was especially proud for having served as a roadie on the 2008 and 2009 AIDS Life Cycle events. He also worked with many others to establish the first gay Pride Parade in Long Beach, as well as volunteered for the March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Katz, a U.S. Air Force retiree, was self-employed as a graphic artist and worked as an events planner with major events at the Anaheim Convention Center and the Biltmore Millennium. Although he was a world traveler, Katz was more interested in connecting with the locals and experiencing their favorite pastimes, rather than the big tourist attractions — preferring to see through the eyes of a local all the famous attractions he’d seen many times before. Katz is survived by his sisters — Aviva Hahn of Cedarhurst, N.Y., and Deborah Colmer of Huntington Beach, Calif. — as well as numerous friends around the world. His family has asked that donations be made in his memory to either the Southern Poverty Law Center or the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. — Steven Dwyer
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