Harold Phillip Abner

The gates of Heaven opened wide Monday, June 26, 2023 to welcome Harold Phillip Abner. Harold was born, along with his twin brother Howard, on August 10, 1947 in Lexington Kentucky. Harold was a loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and a great friend to many.
When he was young, his family moved to Carrollton, Michigan where he enjoyed many years growing up. His favorite memories of that time were riding his bike in the A&P parking lot with his friends and his brother Howard. He played football for Carrollton High School and then after graduating, attended the University of Kentucky with his brother. After a year, they transferred to Murray State University. When asked why they transferred, he laughed and said because their mom was working at the University and they needed to get away! At Murray State University he loved to play the card game Hearts with his friends.
After graduation he moved to Cincinnati where he worked as an accountant for Stearns & Foster. His friend Roger, who lived next door, was a gourmet cook so Harold spent a lot of time there, and gained a love for cooking. Harold obtained his MBA from Xavier University during this time, and the day after he graduated he took a job as the VP of Finance for Pizza Hut. While working for Pizza Hut he moved to Athens, Ohio.
In Athens he rescued a Bench Springer Spaniel and a Field Springer Spaniel, Scotty and Clayton of whom he had many fond memories. He met and married his wife Debbie Wyckoff and her son Rob who he adopted. Their son Noah was born in 1984.
The family moved to Westerville when Harold took an accounting job with a company that made modular housing. He then took a job as the Director of Finance for a large printing company and then as a Finance/Accounting Recruiter for a local recruiting firm. During this time he was divorced.
Harold was an active member of the Church of the Messiah United Methodist, an adult Sunday school class called 'Footsteps', and the worship committee. He trained for 2 years to be able to teach a bible study class which he did for many years. He was also very active in the Central Ohio Emmaus, Walk to Emmaus experience. It was at church that he met his current wife, Deb. Married in 1994, their daughter Hannah was born in 1995. Harold took time off from work to stay home with Hannah and to take computer programming classes at Columbus State. In 1998 he started working for Nationwide Insurance as a COBOL programmer. He loved his job at Nationwide and retired in May, 2006 at age 58.
In Harolds retirement, he embraced the 'every day is a Saturday' life. He sincerely loved spending time with family and friends, and was always there when you needed him. He took classes at Columbus State, which were free for Seniors, including photography, electrical, plumbing, general construction and landscaping, to name a few. He loved doing projects around the house. The biggest project he took on was building a screened-in porch on the house with his son Rob. He also got back into cooking. Cooks Country magazines were all over the house and the food network was on the TV when he wasn't watching FOX news, the Rifleman or MASH reruns. He thoroughly enjoyed running Hannah and Noah all over for their sports and other activities, and supported his wife in her pursuit of her career. He also loved picking up his grandkids from daycare and would always have a piece of candy waiting for them in their carseats.
Harold will be missed and remembered by his loving wife of 29 years, Deb (Upole) Abner, his son Rob (Shannon), granddaughters Grace and Gabby, his son Noah (Amber), grandson Carter and granddaughter Claire, his daughter Hannah (Ryan) O'Grady, his twin "older brother by 6 minutes" Howard (Gloria) and their children and grandchildren. He was loved by many, including extended family and friends. He will be missed!
Harold's celebration of life will be held on July 1 at the Church of the Messiah United Methodist in Westerville, Ohio. The family invites you to attend a viewing from 9am to 10:30am, the church service at 10:30am and then the gravesite service at Blendon Central Cemetery.
Please contribute stories and condolences to the obituary page as you see fit.
In lieu of flowers, please consider supporting the Westerville Area Resource Ministry (W.A.R.M), or the Church of the Messiah Missions in memory of Harold. Dedicate your W.A.R.M. donation online at warmwesterville.org or mail a check to 150 Heatherdown Dr A, Westerville, Oh 43081. Church of the Messiah can be found online at messiahumc.net (Other, Missions in Memory of Harold Abner) or mail a check to 51 N State Street, Westerville,