Downey church hosting services for 'Parade King' Bill Lomas

A Celebration of Life will be held this Saturday, April 6, for Bill Lomas. Photo courtesy Ed Krieger

DOWNEY – Services will be held Saturday, April 6, for Bill Frederick Lomas, known in the entertainment world as “The Parade King” and producer of the Hollywood Christmas Parade for 42 years.

The public is welcome attend the service, taking place at Desert Reign Church in Downey starting at 1 pm.

For 42 years, until 2023, Lomas was a longtime producer of the iconic Hollywood Christmas Parade, as well as producer of countless other parades, dozens of Irish Fairs and Celtic Music Festivals, Carnivals and other events in the states of California, Hawaii and Arizona.

Lomas’ Celebration of Life service will be under the direction of McKenzie Mortuary. For questions and further information about the service, call Bridget McIntyre at McKenzie Mortuary at (562) 961-9301.

Publicist Steve Moyer, a spokesperson for the Lomas family said: “Bill Lomas passed away peacefully at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 22, in his home in Lakewood, surrounded by family and friends. He died of cancer, and was 88 years young, in both spirit and life.”

During the course of his long career in the entertainment business, he served as president and chief financial officer of World Wide Spectaculars, Inc., known as Pageantry Productions, producing parades for St. Patrick’s Day, Fourth of July and Memorial Day, and other events, both locally and throughout the state of California since 1963.

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on May 25, 1935, at the age of 19 he married his first wife, Barbara Joan Benson Lomas, a model who worked at a television station. The couple had two children, Steve and Penny. Shortly after graduating from high school in Toronto, Lomas started working as an auto mechanic, advancing to the position of service manager at Olin Mills Pontiac.

In August 1960, Bill and Barbara Lomas moved from Toronto with their children to Lynwood, where Lomas initially worked at an auto dealership, then at Goodyear Tire Company, before taking a position at Canada Dry. Barbara passed away in 1995.

During his time with Canada Dry, Lomas created many outstanding in-store displays and local promotions. One campaign, led him to escorting a band of legendary Los Angeles Dodgers baseball players around the city for in-store visits, including Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Maury Wills and Duke Snyder.

At Canada Dry, Lomas met his soon to be business partner, Mort Pollock, and they created Golden State Trophies in Woodland Hills circa 1965.

In an effort to get more trophy business, Lomas realized that parades order many more trophies than bowling leagues or baseball leagues, which typically ordered trophies for first, second and third place, as well as Best Sportsman. So Lomas invented a promotion and faxed all the Chamber of Commerce offices throughout the state of California, with the following promotional slogan: “Book Your Parade Trophies with us to receive a free booklet, ‘100 Tips To A Better Parade.’”

Within a couple of weeks, several chambers of commerce offices got back to Lomas, essentially saying, “We have a budget, but we know nothing about producing a parade. We would be happy to buy the trophies from you if you can produce our parades. I’m the president of the chamber, but I have a business of my own to run.”

That’s how Lomas got into the parade business.

He and Pollack started producing parades, but after a few years, they parted ways because Pollack wanted to be in the trophy business and Lomas wanted to be in the parade business. At that point in time, Lomas started Pageantry Productions in 1969 on Long Beach Boulevard in Lynwood, which was once the presidential Democratic campaign office for Robert F. Kennedy.

In 1965. Lomas met his next parade business partner, Veronica “Ronnie” Theresa Lomas (nee Murphy), whom he later married. Ronnie was credited as the first woman to start and run a Drum & Bugle Corps, The Diplomats. She passed away in 2009. She created Pageantry Productions’ slogan, “I love a parade.”

In 2010, Lomas met Nancy Lennon, his life companion until the time of his death. Lennon was an integral part of Lomas’ life.

In the height of Lomas’ career, he produced 65 parades and 34 festivals annually for about 10 years. In the early 80s Lomas was brought in on an emergency basis to produce the Kentucky Derby Parade and he was the decorator of choice for the Disneyland Hotel. On March 17, 1985, and several years after that, Lomas decorated and carpeted in green several blocks of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hill for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

In 1985, Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson’s famous straight man, served as grand marshal of Beverly Hills’ first St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which also included celebrities Milton Berle, Red Buttons, Gene Kelly, Ernest Borgnine, Phyllis Diller, Michael York, Eva and Zsa Zsa Gabor, Danny Thomas and Bozo The Clown.

Survivors include Nancy Lennon, Lomas’ life companion; son, Steven F. Lomas; daughter, Penelope (Penny) S. Moore (nee Lomas); stepdaughter, Linell Pe’a (nee Harn) who was active participant in her father’s parade business; stepson, Richard Harn; stepdaughter, Kathy Cavanas (nee Harn); and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.