Phil Anton – Class of 1963
Dedication, loyalty, and service are values that Phillip Richard Anton grew up with, and those values have guided him through a life of accomplishment and excellence in business, community activity, and passion for sports. Born and raised as a Colonist, he has remained one of Anaheim High School’s most loyal supporters, and his rousing personality are not soon forgotten by anyone he has ever met.
The eldest of four children of Joe and Mary Anton, Phil was born April 2, 1945 and was raised in an environment that placed he and his family at the center of attention. His parents ran Anton’s Market, one of the most prominent businesses in the growing City of Anaheim in the years immediately following the Second World War. The family grocery store was possibly the first supermarket in Orange County, featuring a wide variety of fresh, canned, and packaged foods along with household items in a format that was revolutionary for its time, but soon became commonplace in suburban post-World War II America.
Strongly influenced by his father Joe, a community leader and co-founder of the Anaheim Football Booster Club, Phil attended St. Boniface School, then (after spending his ninth-grade year at Fremont Junior High School) began attending Anaheim High School in the fall of 1960. While majoring in mathematics, Anton was a member of the Colonist Knights, the National Honor Society, and served on the senior executive committee. To this day, he remains a proud and dedicated Colonist, serving as his beloved Class of 1963’s reunion chairman and was involved in the founding of the Anaheim High School Alumni Association.
Anton played on the “B” football team as a sophomore, then was on the varsity team for the next two years, playing for hall of fame head coach Clare Van Hoorebeke and his cadre of legendary assistant coaches John Wallin, Jack Lee, John Hangartner, and Brant Cowser. Team trainer Gene Donnelly introduced a revolutionary weight training and conditioning program and Anton was one of his first trainees. Playing tackle, Anton helped the Mighty Colonists win a pair of Sunset League titles and CIF playoff appearances, including a run to the 4-A Division final at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He ended his high school playing career by playing in the annual Orange County North-South All-Star Football Game.
Anton continued playing football at Occidental College, and as a defensive tackle and placekicker earned all-conference honors under the guidance of head coach Jim Mora. He also was a founding member of Occidental’s rugby club and scored the team’s first-ever goal in club history and was a member of the Tigers’ track & field squad, at one time ranking in the top 10 in the nation as a discus thrower. Anton was ultimately inducted into the Tigers’ hall of fame for his accomplishments in football and track & field. On campus, Anton earned a bachelor’s degree in business, economics and sociology and was an officer in the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity (going on to serve the national fraternity as keeper of annals). In later years, Anton served on his class reunion committee and was co-chair of the football golf tournament.
Following graduation from Occidental College, Anton pursued his dreams of playing professional football with the Dallas Cowboys, while at the same time learning the stock broker trade working with his father at Dempsey-Tegeler & Co. and later Francis I. DuPont Glore Forgan. In 1971, he began working for Bank of America, holding numerous titles and job responsibilities over the next seven years before taking his talents over to Security Pacific National Bank in 1978 where he rose to become a regional vice president and senior investment officer managing over $250 million in customer investment assets.
Three years later, Anton went to work for his father’s firm Securities West, Inc., beginning as director of research, then expanding his duties to include secretary, compliance officer, and executive vice president before ultimately becoming president in 1993. After Securities West closed in 1995, Anton spent brief periods juggling new jobs and responsibilities with First American Financial Corporation, Titanium Concepts Corporation, and the USA Golf Corporation where he spent time as director.
In February 1996, he began more than 10 years working for Brookstreet Securities Corporation as a manager and registered investment advisor. Since June 2007, he has held those same titles with the Wedbush Morgan Securities Corporation. During his career in finance, he has been a part of many professional organizations, including the Financial Analysts Federation, Los Angeles Society of Financial Analysts, the Association for Investment Management & Research, the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., and the Orange County Society of Investment Managers where he was the founder as well as president.
Also in February 1996, he began his own personal business endeavor, founding Pro Sports Enterprises as its president as an agency firm representing professional athletes and coaches in the NFL and the WNBA; among his clients include Pro Football Hall of Famer Ron Yary, a native of Bellflower who led USC to a national championship as an Outland Trophy winner before becoming a perennial All-Pro tackle in helping the Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowls in the 1970s.
Anton’s passion for football began while playing for Anaheim High School’s elite football program. Beginning in 1982, he was the chairman, game coordinator, and driving force behind the Orange County North-South High School All-Star Football Game and his association continued there until 2016, though he remains an unofficial advisor. He has also advised numerous other football-related organizations, including the National Football Foundation (where he served as director), fundraising for charities through cooperation with the National Football League during Irrelevant Week (which annually celebrates the last man picked in the NFL Draft), serving as an advisor for Blue Chip Magazine, the USC Trojans football program where he has served as a scout and recruiter, and the Anaheim High School Football Booster Club, where he served as a past president.
Other sports-centered entities that he has given his time and efforts to include the Orange County Sports Association, Orange County Sportswriters Association, the USC Trojan Club and Women of Troy as a supporter and scout for the women’s basketball program, a supporter and player evaluator for Pepperdine University women’s basketball, a member of the Western Hills Golf & Country Club, committee member and golf tourney chairman for the Roosters Foundation of Orange County, a fundraiser for the P.A.D.R.E. Foundation, Inc., and Western Youth Services, founder and past president of the Aquatics Association of Anaheim, chair of various programs of the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce Sports Newsmakers Luncheons, and Orange County Youth Foundation, Inc. as director and past president.
For decades, Phil Anton and his wife Cathy have called Brea their home where they raised their children Jody and Jeff and he has been ubiquitous in community activities and organizations there. As director and past president of the Brea Lions Club, he has been named Lion of the Year, a Melvin Jones Fellow, and district committee representative for the venerable service organization. He has served as a member and fundraiser for the Brea Community Emergency Council, director of the Brea Foundation for Youth Sports, the Brea Chamber of Commerce committee member and co-chair of the golf tournament, City of Brea’s investment advisory committee and other committees, past president of the Brea Glenbrook Men’s Club, Operation Santa Claus as the City of Brea service club coordinator, and as an usher and volunteer at St. Angela Merici Catholic Church in Brea.
He first became involved with Brea Olinda High School as founder and past president of booster clubs for Wildcats aquatics and Ladycat girls basketball. His daughter Jody Anton Wynn was one of the most renowned girls basketball players in Orange County history, leading Brea Olinda to four CIF Southern Section and three CIF State championships. She was named CIF Southern Section and Orange County Player of the Year twice before going on to play collegiately at USC where she helped the Lady Trojans to a Pac-10 Conference title in 1994 and three straight NCAA Tournament appearances. Moving on to become a head coach at both Long Beach State and the University of Washington, Jody Wynn now serves as head coach of the girls basketball program at Mater Dei High School.
Phil Anton has stayed involved in sports both amateur and professional by coaching youth football, basketball and soccer and has helped to organize swim meets and championships and participated in joint projects with the California Angels and the Los Angeles Rams. He still enjoys staying active in golf and tennis and watching USC sports. And in keeping with his firm and true devotion to Anaheim High School, he enjoys fellowshipping with his fellow Colonists at reunions, sporting events, and breakfasts.
