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Loyal George Truesdale

Loyal Truesdale Obituary

Truesdale, Loyal George
July 8, 1940 - September 29, 2010
The morning of the 29th the world lost one of it's true free spirits and raconteurs. According to his business card he was a "Mexican Race Promoter, Motorcyclist Extraordinare, Cannonballer, Singer of Sentimental Ballards & Lover of Beautiful Women." He died from a full life. He leaves behind his sisters Peggy, Phyllis, brothers Easy, Jimmy, and Phil, along with many neices and nephews. A memorial service/fund on Nov. 7 will be held at his nephew Loyal's nightclub The Las Palmas in Hollywood; for details www.laspalmashollywood.com

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Los Angeles Times on Oct. 17, 2010.

Memories and Condolences
for Loyal Truesdale

Sponsored by Loyal's little sister Phyllis Pennings.

47 Entries

Kimberly Conner

August 23, 2025

I´ve been telling the tale of Loyal for some 40 years now and I only met him once! HE MADE AN IMPRESSION!!! I was visiting my sister in L. A. from Chicago and she insisted I meet this guy who I would totally love. We went to a tropical club maybe The Palmas?? Next thing I knew I was on the back of his motorcycle heading towards his house. I rode my own bike in Chicago daily and had many miles under my belt so I was very comfortable hopping on. HA!!!!! I told him that I was from Daytona as well and my family raced. He just grinned and took off with almost a wheelie. I was a little concerned. His house was at the top of a mountain and the road to the top was winding back and forth and steep and he went faster and faster...WEAVING IN AND OUT OF BOTH LANES! It was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time. My sister laughed so hard when she finally got to the house , she said I was as white as a sheet. When we walked inside I saw the most beautiful,sexy , picture of a shiny sleek motorcycle and Loyal wrapped in satin sheets in a giant bed like lovers . I´ll never forget it. Growing up in Daytona Beach and working on Main Street across from Boothill I thought I´d seen the coolest Naw ... Loyal was by far The Man .... and I still tell this story. I found out later that he was a stuntman and one of the best in Hollywood. I wish I could have known him longer. The stories have touched my heart and I feel blessed to have had a moment of his brilliance in my life.

Joe Weinroth

October 2, 2023

Miss you so much amigo!

James A Woodring

October 1, 2023

I remember Loyal from his Vetter fairing days when I was the BMW rep in the Midwest. He & I having a great time at the superbike race in Ontario, CA, WAY back in the day. What a totally lovable loose cannon he was. See ya on the other side!

Bill Spencer

April 3, 2023

Crash and I were cubicle-mates for a year on Johnston Island in the Central Pacific (1,000 miles the other side of Hawaii). We'd both signed up for one-year contracts with Holmes & Narver, which was building all the facilities to monitor the testing of atomic weapons in the atmosphere. Johnston Island was going to be the place that watched them happen in the event the USSR broke the test ban treaty. Everyone had to have a Q clearance (top secret) from the Atomic Energy Commission. Crash ran the Badge Office, so I met him as soon as I got there, since everyone had to wear a badge. This was the early sixties. That's me holding Crash in the photo. We held the Johnston Island Summer Rum Festival, which ran for the year, because it was always summer on the island. There were no women on the island, only military, construction workers, and the support staff like Crash and myself. I was a clerk typist. There were bikes on the island, just laying around, so Crash and I commandeered a couple of them. Crash could sit backwards on the handlebars and pedal a Schwinn down the street. We were working six nines-nine hours a day, six days a week. On Sunday we got on an oil drum raft and went snorkeling in the lagoon on one side of the island. Later we traded our Akai tape recorders to two Air Force guys who were leaving for a couple sets of tanks and regulators. We hadn't done that before, there was no instructor or course or certification. So I got a book out of the library on the basics of skin diving, and read through it. When I came to something I thought was important, I'd tell Crash in the bunk on the other side of the cubicle. "Hey, Crash, when you come up to the surface, don't hold your breath or you might rupture a lung."
"Okay."
Crash introduced me to a new form of entertainment. When the once-a-week plane to Kwajalein landed to refuel at night, we'd go down to the terminal to look through the chainlink fence at the few wives who would be on the plane. Then, when the plane was ready to leave, we'd pedal our bikes out to the end of the runway and lay down and watch the plane take off over us. There wasn't any control tower, no runway security or fences. It was really spooky, a pitch black night, just the plane's bright landing lights and the thundering noise of the DC-6 coming down the runway and going over us.
I've got a bunch of other stories, but anyway, you get the idea.

Joe weinroth

October 11, 2022

Loyal was one of my very best friends for decades---I think about him and the good times we shared often. Vaya con Dios amigo.

Annie

August 7, 2022

Wow, his name popped into my mind and I googled. So sorry to hear he is no longer with us. I lived in the apartment next door in Oakwood garden apts. Burbank. Late 70´s. I now live in the South of France. I´m English. Sorry for your loss.

Minnie Hallman

April 30, 2020

Loyal once had a dog named Lucky. Lucky would go into the supermarket next door to the Saratoga Restaurants to steal a can of dog food. Loyal had arranged for the store to bill him everytime Lucky would would go shopping. It was a real pleasure to know Loyal.. the only thing about him was that he laughed entirely too much over nonsensical things. But he was fun to drink with at the Saratoga on Sunset Blvd. in west Hollywood.

Janet Stiers

November 29, 2013

Did Mexico in 1969 with loyal and then wife Monica. He saved my life in Los mochas after a precarious train trip down the Copper Canyon from Creal (sp). Being a friend of Loyal G. truesdale was something like being "on the road" with jack Kerouac, (as close as mere mortals will ever get). I just found out that he is gone from this world and it is going to take some getting used to.

November 29, 2013

Went to Mexico with loyal and wife Monica in 1969 on an epic run thru chichuacua, on RR thru copper canyon to Los mochas. An awesome experience, impossible to duplicate with a mortal human being, only a legend would do! Loyal saved this mortals life from a fatal case of touristsas and gave her a taste of what it feels like to be legendary!!

Siempre J

June 17, 2012

Your candle burned at both ends
It cast a glorious light, a loss
to us all, it did not last the night.

March 11, 2012

You are a legend Loyal. I feel sorry for anyone unfortunate enough to not have met you. x

November 27, 2011

Loyal,
Somewhere in the sky I'll ride with you again on the California 1000, as we did together in the mid 70's. You were a truly fun guy, and I'm so glad to have known you....
Blessings to You,
Bruce Ablin

September 10, 2011

LOYAL..WE ARE GETTING READY FOR THE LA CARRERA ONCE AGAIN..YOU WILL BE IN IT..A PICTURE OF YOU IS ON THE TOP OF KAMING'S #347 DODGE..EVERYONE WHO IS ANYONE MISSES YOU..LOVE YOUR LITTLE SIS PHYLLIS

Leslie Baker

June 16, 2011

Loyal is one to remember for a very long time. I have expanded on a song I wrote years ago. It's a special song about & inspired by Loyal. I used to call it La Carrera Boogie. I've added to it recently & am renaming it Mr. La Carerra. I hope to share it with you soon.

June 14, 2011

Knew the man in the early 60s in Tucson, claimed to be a tech writer for missle silos or something. Will never forget that grin, man sure loved life. Bikes too.
Andy Johnson, Boca Raton, FL

Carl Frederick

April 19, 2011

Of all the wet and wild tales in my saddlebags, none will ever come close to "Crash" Truesdale's whirlybird trip to see Evel try to rocket/jump the Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls, Idaho. We were standing on the ABC News tower when the gumball fired off, went straight up, and came down in a chute in the middle of the Canyon. The crowd broke the fence down and I thought we were goin' with it! Not "Crash" ~~ he just laughed and reached for another Cuba! What a guy! Vaya con Dios Amigo. You were a man for our times!

Carl Frederick
Pattaya, Thailand

S. Patricia Dimler Matsumoto

February 12, 2011

I spent several fun evenings with friends in parents living rooming, and he was the most wonderful dance partner!
Patricia Dimler Matsumoto

Last ride

Christopher Nugent

January 1, 2011

It was a great memorial. Stories, Cubas and tacos, as it should be.

Mark Fisher

January 1, 2011

Farewell to the Most Interesting Man in the World. I learned a lot from knowing you, and life will never be the same, Vaya con Dios Amigo.

Eddie Brush

November 17, 2010

Godspeed to a great man !!
I was fortunate enough to be involved in the 1987 La Carerra race finishing 8th overall. Loyal encouraged me to be in the race and helped me in many ways. He was truely a man among men !!
God bless and best wishes to those he left behind !
Eddie Brush, Schenectady New York

November 5, 2010

Peter Starr

November 3, 2010

I always thought you were beyond my comprehension Loyal, and now you have left, you always will be. Boy were you unique.

November 2, 2010

Dear Phyllis, so sorry about your brother. Dan said he lived an amazing and exciting life. Prayers and good thoughts go your way and to all your family. Steve and Joan Libertyville, Illinois

mike p

November 1, 2010

Rex Reese

November 1, 2010

The gods weep over this great loss, as though they had lost one of their own.

Tony Thompson

October 30, 2010

Uncle Loyal was very special to his Sister Peggy's(my mom) family. My brothers and I knew Uncle Loyal from a very young age when he would come to visit us. There was never a dull moment with him around. His laugh was contagious. He inspired me and my Dad to love motorcycles. He let me ride his BMW 750 when I was 13 years old. Loyal George Truesdale was one of a kind and he lived his life, his way. To the fullest! He and Bill Thompson are riding bikes together now in the great beyond. Goodbye Uncle Loyal. I will miss you....

Loyal, and nephews Loyal, Logan and Michael

October 28, 2010

Lauri Maguire

October 27, 2010

Loyal, I hope he knows how much of an inspiration he was to so many people. Thank you for giving us all some of the best "stories" we have to tell. Oh, and thank you for all the kitty cats. Meow!

Mike Pennings

October 26, 2010

Uncle Loyal,
We are going to miss you bud. I admire how you lived. You did whatever you wanted when you wanted. I am going to try and practice more of that myself. You always had good stories for us. I have told a few of them and they are almost not believable (but they are)
Say Hi to Granny for me ok. Take Care

I will leave your phone on for a while in case anybody wants to hear your voice one more time.
Loyal's phone (323) 610 0213

Leigh Torgerson

October 25, 2010

vaya con Dios Loyal - we'll all miss you a lot.

peggy elizabeth

October 25, 2010

Uncle Loyal & Peggy Elizabeth on Phyllis' deck

Peggy Elizabeth

October 25, 2010

Uncle Loyal...I'm glad I got to spend some time with you...I found it all true: you WERE the coolest guy anyone could have for an uncle...truly the stuff of legends...thank you! love & prayers

Debbie B

October 25, 2010

LOYAL
Was my neighbor in Woodland Hills, he was funny, and an avid reader, I always supplied him with the newspaper he waited it for it everyday, I will miss giving it to him..he became my friend, Debbie

Denise Torgerson

October 24, 2010

It's hard to imagine life without a Loyal George Truesdale in it. Somewhere Harry Gant is weeping. As are we. Via Con Dios, my dear friend. Until we meet again...

Oscar Sanchez

October 22, 2010

Siempre con un humor fantastico, sonriente y con una vida relajada y envidiable. Muchas gracias por contagiarnos tu alegria Tio Loyal!

Frater Perdurabo

October 21, 2010

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. Love is the law, love under will.

Craig Vetter

October 20, 2010

Loyal was a friend in the early 1970s. I have made a web page for him:

http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/Misc_stories/Loyal-George-Truesdale.html

Lots of fun pics there. Take a look.

Craig

Christopher Nugent

October 20, 2010

A great tribute to Loyal

http://www.craigvetter.com/pages/Misc_stories/Loyal-George-Truesdale.html

Phyllis Pennings

October 20, 2010

Loyal was the best.Everyone should be so lucky as to have a "Loyal" in their lives.He who laughs last,laughs hardest,he left laughing and I can still hear it ,always making me smile..Phyllis Pennings

Leslie Baker

October 20, 2010

How sad he is gone. Talk about the life of the party! Seems like an understatement, maybe he was actually the party himself. When I think of Loyal I just smile. Man did he know how to have fun with us all. He'll be remembered, spoken of & missed. Loyal, you've truly left your mark.

Walter Ritchie

October 19, 2010

It is so hard to believe that someone so full of life and laughter as Loyal was has left us. I've known Loyal for many years. We first got together in 1967 when I was a motorcycle parts man. We both rode BMW motorcycles. We teamed up to race in a 12 hour race at the Willow Springs track. That was just the first of many adventures. We teamed up to race his famous Hudson Hornet in the first La Carrera.
After that loyal became Mr. La Carrera and put on that race and the Pan American road race. He made these races famous. He loved racing and he loved his Cuba Libres. His leaving leaves a big hole in the world where the shine of his enthusiasm for life radiated.
He truly was the most unique creative person there will never be another Loyal George Truesdale. He is truly missed.

Lyn Abrams

October 18, 2010

Loyal taught me how to mix business with fun. Back in the 70's we were right in the middle of all the action with my store on the Sunset Strip. Lots of great memories.

Aleister Crowley

October 18, 2010

Do What Thou Wilt is the whole of the law. Love is the Law.

Rene Rylander

October 18, 2010

Wish I could hear that infectious, deep bass, raucous laugh just one more time. Although I hadn't seen Loyal in nearly 10 years, he remained close to my heart. I bet people will be laughing til the tears roll on Nov. 7 when they recount his many stories.

Rick Torgerson

October 18, 2010

Thanks for a lifetime of laughs "Crash"
It was either a great race or a great party... often interchangeable. My life is more enriched for having been your pal. Viya Con Dios, Mi Amigo indeed!

October 17, 2010

Viya Con Dios, Mi Amigo---Joe Weinroth

Jerry Pikolysky,DDS

October 17, 2010

Loyal was a delight & shared some great stories about his
Baja runs.....We always looked forward to his regular visits
at my dental office in Studio City. A REAL Cannonballer.

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