Robert Paxton McCulloch

Millionaire industrialist Robert P. McCulloch Sr., who brought the London Bridge to the Arizona desert and maintained a Palm Springs residence, died from a combination of barbiturates and alcohol, a weekend autopsy revealed. County Coroner Thomas Noguchi said Saturday McCulloch died from a "short-acting barbiturate intoxication,” He said a behavioral scientist from the coroner's office will be assigned to determine whether the pills were taken accidentally or intentionally. Funeral arrangements for McCulloch, one of the founders of Eldorado Country Club in Indian Wells and a past director of Eisenhower Medical Center, are pending. McCulloch was one of the founders of the Palm Springs Classic, which later evolved in the Bob Hope Desert Classic golf tournament. He also was the developer of Thunderbird Valley Estates in Cathedral City. The Palm Springs chapter of City of Hope selected McCulloch as its “Man of the Year” for 1967. It was originally believed that the 65-year-old McCulloch, whose body was found Friday in his Bel Air home, had died of a heart attack. McCulloch, board chairman of the McCulloch Oil Co., bought the 140-year-old bridge in 1968 for $2.46 million and had it brought, stone by stone, to his development, Lake Havasu City. He is survived by his widow, Barbara McCulloch; two sons, Robert McCulloch Jr. of Lake Tahoe and Richard McCulloch of Lake Havasu City; two daughters, Barbara and Mary McCulloch, both of Los Angeles; a brother, John McCulloch of New York City; a sister, Mrs. Carvel Linden of Surfside, Fla.; and numerous grandchildren.