Thomas Kemp, 75, found dead

Thomas Kemp, brother of one-time presidential candidate Jack Kemp, died while swimming in the Laguna Beach High School pool Wednesday, authorities said. He was 75.

Swimming was an avid hobby of his, and he would always head to the pool if the ocean was too cold, his son, Thomas Kemp Jr., said Thursday.

Thomas Kemp’s body was found at about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday face down in the municipal pool at Laguna Beach High School, Laguna Beach Police Officer Greg Walloch said.

Kemp’s brother, Jack, served in Congress as a representative of Buffalo, New York, from 1971 to 1989. In 1996, Jack Kemp ran for vice president on the Republican ticket with former Sen. Bob Dole. He ran for president in 1988, and after he failed to win the Republican nomination he served under President George H. W. Bush as secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1989 to 1993.

In a 1988 presidential campaign brochure, Jack highlighted a commitment to “Family Values” with a quote from his brother.

“Like so many Americans, Jack Kemp’s roots lie in middle America,” the brochure read. “His family’s small trucking business supported the four Kemp sons during the Depression. As Jack’s brother Tom notes, ‘We’ve all relied on one another at various times in our lives, and Jack continues to rely on family today.’ ”

“Family and friends were extremely important to him,” Thomas Kemp Jr. said. “From all of the calls I’m getting and in talking to people I’m hearing that he was everything from a hero to a father to a best friend and a role model. His friendship and leadership changed their lives.”

Thomas Kemp was also an avid piano player. He picked up the hobby at 70, “and he was outstanding,” his son said.

Thomas Kemp and his family moved to Laguna Beach in 1972. He was active in a battered women’s shelter that has since moved to Irvine, his son said. In the early 90s, Thomas Kemp and his son helped Russian defense contractors transform their businesses.

“We helped a Russian missile company make golf clubs,” Thomas Kemp Jr. said.

Thomas Kemp grew up in Hollywood and was a pitcher on USC’s baseball team. He would later become president of Coca Cola Los Angeles and after that president of Hunt-Wesson Foods, Thomas Kemp Jr. said.