Walter Martin Haller

1919 - 2016

Walter Martin Haller
May 30, 1919 ~ Jan. 28, 2016
Resident of Morgan Hill
Haller's Pharmacy Founder Walter Haller Dies at 96
Walter M. Haller, founder of Haller's Pharmacy in Fremont, Calif., died peacefully on Jan. 28, 2016, at the age of 96. Most recently a resident of Morgan Hill, Calif., he previously lived in Oakdale, Calif., where he relocated with his family following his sale of the Fremont area pharmacy business that he founded in 1957 with his wife and partner, Lena Belle Flannery Haller.
It was World War II that brought the couple from Tell City, Indiana, where Walter was born, to the West Coast. Navy Aviation Radioman First Class, Walter was stationed at Alameda Naval Air Station and deployed in the South Pacific theater of war operations. He survived two warfront plane crashes—one in the ocean and one on land. After his safe return, the couple remained in Alameda, and U.S. G.I. benefits enabled Walter to attend the University of California Medical School of Pharmacy in San Francisco.
The growing areas of Newark and Centerville, which would become Fremont, attracted the pair to relocate with their young daughters and establish a pharmacy business. In the News Register ad announcing the new Haller's Pharmacy at Centerville's Fremont Boulevard and Central Avenue in 1957, they stated, "We pledge to give you the best possible prescription service and do hope that we get the opportunity to serve you." It was a service that continued non-stop, including holidays, because, as Walter was fond of saying, "Sick people don't have holidays." At one point, the business included four separate pharmacies in the Fremont-Newark region.
Walter was preceded in death by Lena Belle, who died in 2004. Following a private service in Oakdale on February 3, Walter was buried alongside his wife of more than 62 years. He is survived by daughters Mary Louise Haller and Doris Jeanne Condren and son-in-law John Condren, all of Morgan Hill, and by seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
The family extends thanks to the many customers of Haller's Pharmacy who brought joy to Walt and Belle throughout their many years behind the counter or making prescription deliveries. Walter recently reminisced, "When families brought their babies in so that I could see them, I knew we had made a good connection in the community." The family also extends thanks to all members of Valley Pines Assisted Living in Morgan Hill and to Vitas Hospice Care.


View the online memorial for Walter Martin Haller