By Collin Breaux | Twitter: @collin_breaux
Roy Nunn, a longtime San Juan Capistrano resident who designed numerous buildings in town and served as a community official and volunteer, died on Feb. 7 from aspiration pneumonia. He was 71.
Nunn was an architect whose legacy lives on in the buildings around town and throughout Orange County that he designed, including Serra Plaza, the Fluidmaster building, and the local Volkswagen sales office.
Nunn also served on San Juan’s Planning Commission and Design Review Committee, and he coached youth sports. He was born in Bakersfield and raised in Lakewood, before arriving in San Juan Capistrano.
His widow, Leslie Nunn, described her late husband as kind and caring. She has numerous photos of him in their home, as well as notes of condolences from loved ones and friends.
“He was a good man,” Leslie said. “He fought for 30 years with all the different illnesses he had. He had four types of cancer, Parkinson’s for 21 years, a brain bleed, stroke, and heart attack.”
Roy and Leslie were married for more than 50 years and lived in San Juan for 42 of those years.
When Leslie passes by one of the buildings he designed, she thinks about the work he put into them.
“He was incredibly creative and artistically talented,” she said. “They make me smile.”
With his passing, she feels a sense of relief that he is no longer suffering. “I’m incredibly proud of him, and I miss him,” she said. “He just loved what he did.”
Collin Breaux
Collin Breaux covers San Juan Capistrano and other South Orange County news as the City Editor for The Capistrano Dispatch. Before moving to California, he covered Hurricane Michael, politics and education in Panama City, Florida. He can be reached by email at cbreaux@picketfencemedia.com
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