Hermosan Named 53rd Assembly District Woman of Year

Hermosa Beach Police Department Chaplain Gila Katz has been named this year’s Woman of the Year from the 53rd Assembly District, said the office of Assemblymember Betsy Butler in a statement Wednesday.

Along with working at the Police Department, Katz, a well-known community member, is the executive director of the Klein Chaplaincy Service of the South Bay.

Through the service, Katz often visits patients at local nursing homes and hospitals. She also volunteers at the Sunrise Senior Center in Hermosa Beach and Pacific Inn Senior Housing in Torrance.

Here in Hermosa, Katz recently helped lead the effort to build and install a 9/11 memorial bench near the corner of Pier Avenue and Valley Drive to honor those who died in the terrorist attacks.

Youth from the Kiwanis Builders Club at helped decorate the bench with 2,997 buttons embedded in a clear plastic coating.

"It represents the past, because it was nine years ago today that we were attacked," Katz said at last year. "The present, because this bench, the kids gave all of us the opportunity to come and to take a moment to reflect. And it's the future, because it was our kids who built the bench. This bench represents the best of Hermosa Beach, because this is truly a communal effort."

As a Red Cross Disaster Chaplain, Katz spent three weeks at Ground Zero in 2011.

“I am honored to present this award to Gila Katz,” Butler said in a statement. “Gila’s dedication and commitment to the local community is a shining example of the difference one person can make. Her efforts to install the 9/11 memorial bench in Hermosa Beach ensure we will not forget those we lost despite the passing years. Gila has touched many lives and the South Bay is a better place because of her volunteerism and community involvement.”

Women across California have been honored during the Woman of the Year event since 1987, when legislators began to select one woman from each Senate and Assembly district annually to attend ceremonies at the Assembly Chambers of the State Capitol in honor of their accomplishments.

Katz was awarded during this year's ceremony at the Capitol on Monday morning (see photo by clicking 'view gallery' on top right of article).