CALIFORNIA MISSION

Multimillionaire real estate developer William Hannon is fascinated with another California developer: Father Junipero Serra.

So on Wednesday, Hannon donated a life-size bronze statue of Father Serra to Marymount College Palos Verdes in Rancho Palos Verdes.

While many revere Serra as a religious hero, Hannon credits him with paving the way for the development of California. “I often say that Father Serra was the first subdivider of California . . . and ran the first chain of hotels,” he said.

Bishop Joseph Sartoris of the Los Angeles Archdiocese blessed the $30,000 statue, which stands in a patio area next to the administration building of the two-year college attended by 700 students.

Hannon, a 1937 graduate of Loyola Marymount University and one of the first developers of Westchester and Playa del Rey, admires Serra for establishing eight of California’s 21 missions during the 1700s.

His way of honoring the Spanish priest is by donating $30,000 statues to various schools and missions throughout California. He has donated more than 60 to places such as the Mission San Juan Capistrano and St. Bernardine of Siena Catholic School in Woodland Hills.