General Notes

VERNA IRENE HARROWER was born 02 May 1909 in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, the daughter of Dr. Henry Robert Harrower and Bessie Isadore Waggoner.  She was an only child.  At a young age, the family relocated from Chicago to Glendale, California, and it was there she grew up.  Her father was a pioneer both of the community of Glendale, California, as well a pioneer in the study of endocrinology.  Because Dr. Harrower was not able to find the kind of medicines he wanted for his patients, he started the Harrower Laboratory in Glendale and started manufacturing his own pharmaceuticals.  This brought a measure of wealth and prestige to their family.

On 07 Aug 1930 in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California, Verna married her husband, Robert Boyd Haining.  Bob was a native of Kilmarnock, Scotland; he had come to Los Angeles to study medicine.  Like Verna’s own family, Bob also was affiliated with the Seventh Day Adventist Church (his father was even a minister).

Bob and Verna settled in Glendale, and raised two children there.  He  became a prominent doctor; she was active in both social and political circles.

Her nephew remembers her as “a gracious and kindly lady.”  “She was meticulous and always impeccably dressed.  She always wanted to do the right thing.  She avoided gossiping.  She appreciated good music... [and she] was on very good terms with her father.”

They had a small vacation cottage in Pebble Beach, Monterey County, California, which Verna had inherited from her father.  In 1970, Bob and Verna decided to retire there permanently, and they sold their house in Glendale and moved to Pebble Beach.  But only a year later, on 11 July 1971, Verna died at their cottage in Pebble Beach.

When she died, the city councils of Glendale and Los Angeles adjourned early in her honor.  She had been influential in leading the Protect Our Mountains movement in Glendale.  (This group had marshaled opposition to developers who wanted to carve into the mountains around Glendale in order to build homes up their slopes; they came up with policies that modified those building plans in such a way as to preserve the natural  lines of the hills and their ridge lines.)

Verna was buried in the Glendale Forest Lawn Cemetery.  Her husband Bob was buried next to her, when he died almost 14 years later.

  Burial Notes

Glendale Forest Lawn Cemetery, Wee Kirk Churchyard, Map A01, Lot 258, Space 4

  Recorded Events in Her Life

• Her Social Security Number was 566-32-6277, issued in California, USA. ⁶

• Gallery: Birth Certificate, on 2 May 1909, in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois, USA.

• She appeared on the 1910 US Federal Census on 16 April 1910 in Kankakee, Kankakee County, Illinois, USA. ⁷ Kankakee, Kankakee County, Illinois, USA (age 11 mos.)

• Moved: 1919, Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA.

• She appeared on the 1920 US Federal Census on 2 January 1920 in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA. ⁸ Burbank Township, Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA (age 10)

• She traveled from Southhampton to New York with her family on the SS Berengaria in July 1923. ⁴ Departure:  07 July 1923; Arrival:  13 July 1923.

• She appeared on the 1930 US Federal Census on 14 April 1930 in Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California, USA. ⁹ Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California, USA (age 20)

• She appeared on the 1930 US Federal Census on 30 April 1930 in La Crescenta, Los Angeles County, California, USA. ⁹ La Crescenta, Los Angeles County, California, USA (age 21)

• She traveled from Liverpool England (8-13-1932) to Boston, MA (8-20-1932) on SSMV Britannic between 13 August 1932 and 20 August 1932. ¹⁰

• She was buried at the Glendale Forest Lawn Cemetery (Wee Kirk Churchyard, Map A01, Lot 258, Space 4) in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, USA in 1971.
  
  Gravestone inscription:
  
  VERNA IRENE HAINING
  1909 - 1971
  EARNEST AND VALIANT SAMARITAN,
  SHE WALKED WITH GENEROUS LIGHT
  WARMING TO LOVE AND BEAUTY
  THROUGHOUT A WELL LIVED LIFE