Author and historian Stephen J. Faessel has captured Anaheim’s history, including that of Anaheim Union High School, in his books Images of America: Early Anaheim and Remembering Anaheim.
Someone who’s truly earned the title of “Mr. Anaheim,” Faessel was born in 1950 of parents active in the local citrus industry. Faessel supported local history as past chairman OC Historical Commission and as a member of the Anaheim Museum Board of Directors and the Mother Colony Household.
Faessel served on the Commission’s Editorial Board for the republishing of the Orange County history, 100 Years of Yesterdays. He has served as the Commission’s Chair for the 2000 and 2001 terms and chaired the County’s Historic Site Sub-Committee.
He is a longtime volunteer researcher for the Anaheim Public Library in the Elizabeth Schultz Local History Room. In addition to being the Anaheim Public Utility Department’s unofficial Historian, he continues to write articles on Anaheim’s unique history, including his four recently published illustrated local history books, Early Anaheim and Anaheim 1940-2007 for Arcadia Publishing and Historic Photos of Anaheim and a coffee-table book, Remembering Anaheim both for Turner Publishing.
He has also crossed the division between historical preservation and civic growth as a member of the Anaheim Planning Commission and as past chairman of the Anaheim Public Utility Board, where he served as its unofficial historian.
In addition to his interest in local history, Faessel serves as vice-president of the Anaheim Community Foundation and as a board member of the Charitable Foundation of the Native Sons of the Golden West, which provides financial assistance to children with craniofacial birth defects.
Faessel lives in Anaheim with Susan (Warden), his wife of 35 years and an Anaheim High Class of 1967 graduate who has also tirelessly served the Anaheim Community. Stephan and Susan are being honored as the 2016 Cypress College Foundation American Citizens of the Year.
