Byron Haner

Byron Edmund Haner of Colonial Heights, Major USAF (retired) and former city manager of Colonial Heights and Roanoke, died Wednesday, June 13, at the age of 91. He died confident that he would be reunited with his wife of 60 years, Ann Shufflebarger Haner, who passed away in 2007. He is survived by two sons, their wives and four grandchildren. Stephen and Pamela Haner reside in Richmond, as does their daughter Cheryl Wood, with her husband Fahs Wood. Their son Neil resides in Newport News with his wife Marilyn. Daniel and Rhea Haner live in Vienna with their two children, Stephanie and Christopher. Byron is also survived by a brother, David Haner of New Bern, NC, a retired Marine, and numerous nephews and nieces. He was preceded in death by his sister, Jeanne Gillespie of Narrows. Born 1920 in Michigan, to the late Carl and Ethel Haner, he lived in Statesville, NC and Bluefield, W.Va. growing up. He fell in love with airplanes at a young age while living in Statesville. He had graduated from Beaver High School in Bluefield and was attending Bluefield College when Pearl Harbor was attacked. By January 1942 he was at USAAF basic training. He spent World War II as a radio operator in the Air Transport Command (a.k.a. Allergic to Combat), flying across the country and crossing the Atlantic to Africa and Europe to ferry bombers and personnel. He was the first American to fly with the RCAF on the polar supply route from Newfoundland to Scotland. Another special assignment took him over the Himalayas to China, and included a chance meeting with General Henry "Hap" Arnold. He had a chance to fly on all the multi-engine warplanes of the era but loved the B-25, with the odd popping of its piston engine, the best. He returned to complete his education at VPI, finishing with a master's degree in architecture after winning honorable mention in a design contest judged by Frank Lloyd Wright. He and Ann, married in 1947, were living and working in Roanoke when he was recalled to duty as a second lieutenant and spent a year in Korea. Following Korea he elected to stay in the Air Force as a base engineer and then missile facilities engineer. Following assignments in Texas, France and Libya, he was assigned to Edwards Air Force Base, California from 1958 to 1961, the era that inspired "The Great Stuff". Next he helped install American Jupiter missiles in Turkey and then removed them as part of the resolution to the Cuban Missile Crisis. His final assignment with an Inspector General unit based in California took him to Vietnam and Thailand for short periods and he was part of a team that suggested today's Air Force Red Horse Squadrons. He retired in 1967. The similarity between managing an air force base and a city led to his second career. He was hired as assistant city manager of Roanoke upon his retirement, returning to that city after 16 years. He left in 1972 to become manager in Colonial Heights, returned to Roanoke a year later as city manager, and finally returned to Colonial Heights again in 1978 as city manager. He fully retired in 1984 and he and Ann enjoyed years of travel and family time before her illness. His service and friendships in the Colonial Heights Presbyterian Church and his beloved Kiwanis Club sustained him during her illness and the lonely times after she passed. The family will receive friends Thursday at 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Colonial Heights Chapel of E. Alvin Small Funeral Homes and Crematory, 2033 Boulevard. A memorial service will be held at Colonial Heights Presbyterian Church, 211 Lynchburg Avenue, on Friday at 2:00 p.m. Byron and Ann will be interred together at Arlington National Cemetery on a date to be determined. In lieu of flowers the family suggests donations to the Colonial Heights Presbyterian Church or the Massey Cancer Center, P.O. Box 843042, Richmond, Va., 23284. He was an officer and a gentleman in the finest traditions of the service, a member of the Greatest Generation who lived all his days with kindness, decency and honor. CL -•-••