Kuzma “Matty” Domancich held just about every office that made San Pedro tick during his 96-year lifetime.

He started the San Pedro High School Boosters Club in 1957 when he learned that football coach Bill Seixas said there would be no money for game films that year.

He was the town’s honorary mayor in 1989.

He was installed as the exalted ruler of the San Pedro Elks Lodge in 1960-61.

Domancich, one of San Pedro’s most loved and respected citizens, died May 18.

Among the disappointments was not living quite long enough to see his beloved San Pedro Elks Lodge reopened following a devastating fire in 2014. He and his family often pledged he’d be there to cut the ribbon when the lodge finally re-opened.

The lodge’s official greeter for years before the arson fire destroyed what many said was his home away from home, Domancich’s big smile and “Welcome to San Pedro Elks Lodge!” greeting became legendary.

His name was written on one of the new support beams in the main hall of the rebuilt structure at 1748 Cumbre Drive, San Pedro, still expected to open sometime this year.

‘Loved the town’

Born July 5, 1922, Domancich was a lifelong San Pedro resident, graduating from San Pedro High School in summer 1941 and serving in the Navy during World War II where he saw combat in the South Pacific while operating LCM (landing craft mechanized) vessels, used to land troops or tanks during Allied amphibious assaults, in the Treasury Islands and Guadalcanal campaigns.

“He was born and raised here and he loved the town,” said Domancich’s son-in-law, John Brunac. “He loved its history, its culture, and he always wanted to give back to people. He was very generous, especially to the youth.”

His Croatian-born parents were Anthony Domancich and Ivanka (Kovacevich) Domancich.

Domancich was among those who defined the port community through the last half of the 1900s and into the 2000s. Many of them have already or are now passing from the scene.

News of his death inspired numerous social media tributes. Among them:

“He was at every meeting with a smile on his face that spread to everyone.” — Jose Chavez, exalted ruler of the San Pedro Elks Lodge;

“Matty knew and loved everyone. Everyone knew and loved Matty.” — Lisa Medina-Guthman;

“One of the finest, most positive individuals I have ever met. Rest in peace Mr. San Pedro.” — Herb Zimmer.

Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino posted on his Facebook page that Domancich “will forever be part of our history and we will never forget him.”

‘A local treasure’

“Matty was a local treasure,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn in a written statement. “He might have been a small man but he was a giant in San Pedro. Everybody who met Matty loved him and I don’t think the Elks Lodge could have asked for a better ‘official greeter.’ Over the years he came to mean so much to me and this town. It is hard to imagine San Pedro without him.”

Brunac said his father-in-law’s favorite greeting for the women he knew — spoken with a gleam in his eye and in a Croatia accent — was, “I crazy for you.”

Domancich attended 15th Street Elementary School, Dana Junior High (now Middle School), and ran track while he was a student at San Pedro High.

Anita Mardesich, 94, grew up across the street from Domancich and remained lifelong friends with him.

“We had a wonderful childhood together living in old San Pedro,” she said. “We played hide-n-seek, kick the can.”

They lived on 17th Street below Mesa Street, near the harbor.

“We didn’t have a lot, but we kept our friendships,” she said.

In high school, Domancich became good friends with a mutual classmate who would become Mardesich’s husband.

“We always delighted in seeing each other,” she said of the friendship between the two couples. “As long as I can remember he was into anything having to do with San Pedro. I used to tell him, ‘You’re like an octopus, you have tentacles all over the place.’”

Stephanie Mardesich of San Pedro, founder of the Los Angeles Harbor Film Festival, said Domancich used to carry her mother’s books home from school.

He was, she said, part of San Pedro’s own “greatest generation” that forever left their stamp on the town.

After graduation, Domancich worked briefly as a draftsman at Todd Shipyards before enlisting in the Navy.

When he returned from the war, he met and married Mary Satalich, who died in 2004. In the years following her death, his eyes would often tear up at the mention of her passing.

Their only child, Donna Brunac, died in 2007.

He also lost his younger brother, Sam, a popular guest columnist for the Daily Breeze for years, in January 2011. The two were also close friends throughout their lives.

Several careers

Domancich sold insurance, distributed auto parts and owned and operated several Shell service stations, including one at 17th Street and Pacific Avenue in San Pedro.

“When (Shell) came to him and said they were going to convert the station to self-serve, he said, ‘You mean you want me to sit behind a window and not check people’s tires or wash their windshields?’” Brunac said. After all, one of Domancich’s longtime life mottos was “Service is my business.”

So he left the station and founded the Bike Palace on Pacific Avenue which he owned and ran for years, selling it in 1987. It is still in business.

As a business owner, Domancich was known as a soft touch for local youngsters selling candy or cookies to support their teams, clubs or scout troops.

When San Pedro celebrated its centennial year in 1988, Domancich voluntarily ran a store in Ports O’ Call Village where residents and visitors could purchase historic photographs and other memorabilia of the town. It was hugely popular and still is talked about by those who remember it.

Later, Domancich sold the historic photos that filled the centennial store from a table in the Elks Lodge lobby to help fund the club’s scholarship program. He let no one get past the display table when he was on duty.

Domancich also was well known as a regular usher at the 9 a.m. service at Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church for decades.

He was a a member of the Point Fermin Lighthouse Society, the Los Angeles Maritime Museum, the Battleship Iowa and S.S. Lane Victory and was a life-long member of the Dalmatian-American Club of San Pedro.

“He was a really good, sweet person,” said his old friend Anita Mardesich. “He had a good life.”

In addition to his parents, wife, daughter and brother, Domancich was preceded in death by a sister, Nellie Dean. He is survived by sisters-in-law Jackie Domancich and Violet Dragich; brother-in-law Jack Satalich; and son-in-law John Brunac; and four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, along with numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. Monday, May 27, at McNerney’s Chapel, 570 W. Fifth St.

Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 28, at Mary Star of the Sea Church, 870 W. Eighth St., San Pedro, with entombment following at Green Hills Memorial Park, 27501 S. Western Ave., Rancho Palos Verdes.

Donations in his memory can be made to the scholarship funds of the San Pedro Pirate Boosters, San Pedro Elks Lodge or the Dalmatian-American Club of San Pedro.