Richard P. Hafner Jr.

1925 - 2022

Richard P. Hafner, Jr.
December 7, 1925 - November 17, 2022
Richard P. (Dick) Hafner, Jr., died peacefully on Thursday, November 17, 2022 in his home overlooking the Sonoma County vineyard and winery that bear his family's name.
He and his beloved late wife of 63 years, Mary Hagar Hafner, bought a small Sonoma County prune ranch in 1967. With their four children, they helped create an Alexander Valley wine grape vineyard just as the California Wine Rush began. In 1982 the family winery was built and in 1984 they were among the first to sell their wine by direct mail to patrons at home. They moved from Berkeley to Sonoma County in 1987.
Dick had been a newsman in the Bay Area and Southeast Asia, and for 25 years was public affairs officer for UC Berkeley during the tumultuous 1960-80s.
He was born in St. Louis on December 7, 1925, to Richard P. Hafner of that city and Frances Wilson of Helena, Montana. With his sister and parents, he came to California for Christmas 1933 and remained until World War Two.
He attended schools in El Centro and Fresno until late 1942 when his father joined the U. S. Army to command the John Deere Ordnance Battalion in England and Belgium. The family returned to St. Louis where Dick graduated from Webster Groves High School in 1944, was immediately drafted and served on the infantry training staff at Camp Roberts, California. He liked to joke that his highest command was as a sergeant in charge of 900 draftees quarantined with measles.
He returned to California in 1946 with his father, mother and sister, Fran Emery. He earned bachelor and master degrees at UC Berkeley where he was editor of the student daily newspaper. He was a volunteer with the Orinda Fire Department, Saturday mailman, summer gardener and service station worker while a Cal student.
After UC he joined the Oakland Tribune where he wrote editorials and columns. Once introduced to Tribune publisher Joseph Knowland as "that young troublemaker on the editorial page," Dick called that high praise.
Earlier he sailed by freighter to Indonesia which had recently liberated itself from the Netherlands. En route he wrote freelance articles on the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore and the British fight against communists in Malayan jungles.
He went to central Java where he enrolled in the "rebel" university established by Indonesians in their fight against the Dutch. He taught English to the university's president and faculty leaders. Later he went to Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, to help start that nation's first English language daily newspaper. In 1953 he returned to the Tribune and studies at UC Berkeley.
From 1955-59 he was managing editor of the Hayward Daily Review and in 1959 was appointed special assistant to California's state school superintendent. He returned to UC Berkeley in 1961 as public affairs officer and later also supervised major public events there including visits by France's president, Germany's chancellor, Italy's premier, India's prime minister, the King of Nepal and the Dalai Lama.
Dick was co-founder of the United Press Editors of Northern California, president of the Bay Area Comprehensive Health Planning Council and the Alexander Valley Association. His wife and he were honored by the Healthcare Foundation of Northern Sonoma County and Alexander Valley Farm Bureau for their community work.
He deeply loved the four generations of his family and the two generations who preceded them. He and his family worked together in the vineyard and winery, backpacked in the Sierra and visited Europe. He greatly respected his friends and his co-workers at Hafner Vineyard and UC Berkeley, and fully met his assignments for his country and his state. He and Mary always cited their "great luck" of moving to Sonoma County's Alexander Valley.
He is survived by sister Frances Emery of Visalia, daughters Julianne (Jack) Farrell of South Berwick, Maine and Betsy of Washington D.C., sons Parke (Sarah) of Alexander Valley and Scott (Bill Glenn) of Santa Rosa, four grandchildren and five great grandchildren.
Memorial donations may be made to Habitat for Humanity of Sonoma County, 1201 Piner Road, Suite 500, Santa Rosa, CA 95403 and Sonoma Land Trust, 822 – 5th Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95401.