Bernard D. Harmer

Bernard Bertram Dorkin Harmer, a pioneer in the philatelic auction industry, died peacefully on Friday July 22 at his home in Yorktown Heights, NY, he was 97 years old. Bernard was born in 1914 in Maldon, England to Henry Revell Harmer, founder of what Time Magazine called "the world's biggest stamp dealer" and Edith A. Harmer. At the age of 17 Bernard joined his father in the firm H.R. Harmer Ltd. In London. In 1937 he married Marjorie Mary Cornish, a Daughter of the British Empire. At the onset of WWII he volunteered for the London Fire Service extinguishing fires while bombs were dropping. In 1942 Marjorie gave birth to Alison Mary Harmer and in 1945 to Keith Anthony Harmer. After the war, H.R. sent Bernard to New York City to run the New York office. Marjorie gave birth to Christopher Revell Harmer in 1953. The family lived in Larchmont, NY from 1946 to 1970 after which they took up residence in New York City. In the mid 1980's the couple returned to England. Marjorie died in 1996.

In 1999 Bernard remarried family friend Una Pepper and returned to the US in 2004 to be close to his children. Una died in 2007.

Bernard became a premier philatelist in his own right, becoming a patriarch in the world of philately setting his place in history when he auctioned the Franklin D. Roosevelt Collection in the late 1940's. Bernard collected Victorian "postal stationery," i.e., envelopes printed with bizarre designs and slogans in praise of temperance, penny postage and peace. He was an ardent tennis player at the Larchmont Shore Club and enjoyed many games of golf on several continents.

He is survived by his three children (all of whom were active in the family business): Alison Harmer LaCalamito (and her husband Jack), Keith Harmer (and his wife Joan), Christopher Harmer (and his wife Andrea) in addition to six grand children and one great grandchild.

The family is planning a memorial celebration on October 14th at the Collector's Club, to coincide with the New York Stamp Show. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Collector's Club of New York, 22 E 35th Street, New York, NY 10016 to help spur the love of stamps and postal history in a new generation of philatelists.