Warren C. Haney

Floccinaucinihilipilification, the action of estimating something as worthless, did not define the man shown in the photo holding the string of walleyes. Warren Carlyle Haney made every person he met feel important by showing a genuine interest. He was born exactly two weeks after the Armistice of World War I and died 35,209 days later. What happened in between could be said to be interesting.

The second of seven children of Raymond and Johanna Haney, Warren experienced an idyllic depression era childhood with brothers, Glen, Raymond, Jim and sisters Kathryn, Mary Jane, and Janice in the interesting town of Bergholz, Ohio. Stories from that time conjure images from “Our Gang” features complete with strange nicknames, dogs, cats, skunks, goats, ponies, owls, chickens, swimming and fishing holes, railroad tracks, mines, vehicles of all sorts, and a few sticks of dynamite. Warren worked in the local coalmines, as an auto mechanic and in a sawmill, which prepared him for 1591 days in the 232nd Army Air Forces Base Unit. There he patched up B-17s and was crew chief for a B-29. He received his orders to report to Okinawa in July 1945 but Little Boy and Fat Man changed the course of history allowing him to go back to Bergholz.

He moved to Akron where he sold funeral home supplies (how ironic) reconnected with the love of his life and was married in 1948. Sara Carson was secretary to the VP of operations at Goodyear Aircraft. As Sara Haney she provided the pull that allowed Warren to begin a long career there. He studied at the Daniel Guggenheim Airship Institute and the University of Akron, moved through the ranks and retired as a GAC contract manager in 1988. Along the way they built a house, enjoyed life then had two children: Eric (Melissa) and Melissa (Joseph) DeCapite. Eric has two daughters, Evan and Emma, Melissa has two daughters, Mary (Christopher) Blados, Kimberly (Jeffrey) Ribaudo, and a son Joseph. Mary and Chris have a son, Jude Warren, who just celebrated his first birthday. (End of children’s who’s who.)

Warren was arguably a polymath and passionate about many things but fishing, golf and bowling come first to mind. He made countless friends and inspired many to take up these pursuits over the decades. Later in life he accumulated numerous medals in the Ohio Senior Olympics for golf and bowling. His secret was to outlive the competition. Warren was always tapped to fry fish as he was as much a master of the art as Sara was with pie baking. His beer batter fish will remain in the imaginations of those who had the opportunity to have a taste.

Warren finally agreed that nobody lives forever but he gave it a good shot. When asked about his final wishes he remarked, “Surprise me”. Funeral service Saturday, 11 a.m., at Hopkins Lawver Funeral Home, 547 Canton Rd., Akron, Ohio 44312. Burial at Mount Peace Cemetery in Hartville. Visitation Friday, from 4 to 7 p.m., and one hour prior to the service on Saturday, from 10 to 11 a.m., at the funeral home.