SEASIDE – John Burr, a former Seaside city councilor and a driving force behind the community effort to build Seltzer Park, died Wednesday.

Burr, 78, suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and was under treatment in Portland. But friends said he and his wife, Marjorie, who survives him, still considered Seaside home.

A funeral service open to the public is planned for 1 p.m. Saturday at Hughes-Ransom Mortuary, 220 N. Holladay Drive.

Having retired in Seaside after working 30 years as a senior manager for the Hughes Aircraft Co.’s Radar Systems Group, Burr was familiar to those in city government for his work on a variety of projects and committees. He edged past two other applicants for a one-year appointment to the Seaside City Council in late 1997, after serving as chairman of the Seaside Improvement Commission and the Seaside Civic and Convention Center Commission.

But he is especially remembered for his steadfast service as president of NORA, the nonprofit Neighbors Organizing Recreational Areas responsible for Seltzer Park at the Cove. The project, made possible with donated funds and labor, began in 1994 and the park was dedicated in November 2000.

“When we put up the light there we called it the ‘John Burr Light,'” said Ken Gurian, a long-time friend of Burr and successor as NORA president. “He really was the guiding light for the whole thing.”

Gurian’s wife, Gloria Seltzer Gurian, and her brother, Jerry Seltzer, had sought to establish a park on the donated family property, and with Burr they convinced city officials that something more than a concrete restroom was in order. Residents, surfers and tourists between the Prom and the trails at Tillamook Head now have a small park including showers beneath an elevated walkway lined with benches, offering an exceptional view of the Pacific Ocean and the Prom.

Friends of the Seltzer family, including Willie Nelson and the Smothers Brothers, got the financial wheels turning with fund-raising events in 1995. Donations through a brick and bench purchase program kept it moving.

The project, which would have cost more than $150,000, was supported by more than 700 brick purchases and 14 memorial benches. Volunteer groups such as the Tongue Point Job Corps Center students contributed work.

Burr patiently shepherded, Gurian said. “It was a labor of love.”

“The number of hours he spent as a contract supervisor coordinating the work was phenomenal, just an amazing donation to the city of Seaside,” said Rosemary Baker-Monaghan, former mayor and fellow NORA member. “We was a kind, gentle, smart individual, and he will be greatly missed.”