Floyd Harold Hyde (1921-2016) was an American businessman, attorney, and politician of
Volga German descent who was Mayor of
Fresno from 1965 to January 1969 and served as
Under Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for just under one year in 1973. Hyde was the last mayor of Fresno to have been both born and raised in Fresno until 2021 when Jerry Dyer became mayor. Hyde was born to Henry Jacob Heidt and Anna Stuckert, on March 18, 1921 in Fresno, California. Hyde was the third of four brothers. The Hyde family changed the family name from Heidt as a result of
Anti-German sentiment during
World War I as noted by Hyde's oldest brother, Delbert Heidt, retaining the original surname due to being born prior to the entry of the
United States in World War I.
Hyde graduated from
Fresno High School in 1939 and attended
Fresno State Normal School
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...
graduating with a degree in Fine Arts in 1943. Upon graduation, Hyde enlisted in the
United States Marine Corps and earned his officer commission of
Captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
at
Marine Corps Base Quantico in
Virginia. Hyde served in the
Pacific Theater
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
during
World War II, and was stationed in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
after the surrender.
After the war, Floyd earned a law degree at the
University of Southern California and returned to Fresno and started a law practice.
Hyde would be the attorney representative for local radio station KARM in their pursuit against another station KFRE for the only
VHF
Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter.
Frequencies immediately below VHF ...
license in Fresno.
[Provost, S. H. (2015). Fast Food and Funtime. In Fresno growing up: A city comes of age, 1945-1985 (p. 80). Fresno, CA: Craven Street Books.]
Political career
Hyde's public career began in 1965, when he kicked off a campaign for mayor of Fresno. Hyde was not considered a contender and was not expected to win. The incumbent mayor, Wallace Henderson, announced he would not seek a full term. As a result, city councilmembers Bert DeLotto and James Mandella were the frontrunners over Hyde. Hyde won the mayoral race outright against the standing city councilmembers. During tenure as Mayor, Floyd help to gain recognition for Fresno to receive the first of its two
All-America City Award.
Hyde would name his wife Marilyn Hyde as sponsor of the
USS Fresno (LST-1182) when in 1967.
In January 1969, Hyde was selected by President
Richard Nixon to serve as the
Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under HUD Secretary
George W. Romney. Due to this nomination and approval, Hyde resigned as Mayor of Fresno and did not seek another term.
In 1973, Hyde would be recommended and promoted to
Under Secretary of Housing and Urban Development however would resign less than one year later due to the political turmoil of the
Watergate scandal.
Post politics
After political offices, Floyd became a visiting lecturer at
Harvard University,
Texas Southern University and the
University of Southern California, Washington Public Affairs Center. Floyd continued a career in housing matters building off of working at HUD by serving as CEO of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust from 1986 to 1992.
Death
Floyd Hyde died on July 26, 2016 after battling
myelodysplastic syndrome.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hyde, Floyd H.
1921 births
2016 deaths
Mayors of Fresno, California
United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II
United States Marine Corps officers
Military personnel from California