Harlan Welborn Hadley

HADLEY

HARLAN WELBORN HADLEY

January 22, 1940 - January 21, 2024



Harlan Welborn Hadley passed away peacefully in his home on the night of January 21, 2024, just hours before his 84th birthday. He was surrounded by his beloved wife, Garnet Tennyson Hadley, his two children Chelsea Hadley and Jordan Hadley, several dear friends and his loyal dog Sydney.



Born in 1940 in Detroit, Michigan, to Wynne Neely (Welborn) Hadley and Harlan VanVactor Hadley, Harlan was raised in Washington, DC and studied business for one year at Georgetown University before transferring to Clemson University in South Carolina to find his true passion, architecture. He obtained a Bachelor of Architecture degree from Clemson in 1966 and went on to earn numerous design awards over his long career of commercial and residential architecture, taking great joy from his work to the very end. Among his early professional achievements was serving as job captain and chief draftsperson on the first two Metro subway stations in Washington while at Kent Cooper & Associates Architects from 1967 to 1974. After starting his own firm and teaching for a period at Catholic University School of Architecture, Harlan applied his talent to a wide variety of projects throughout his long career, including working with Frank Gehry in 1983 on the California Museum of Science & Industry's Aerospace Museum in Los Angeles and the 2007 restoration of The Glebe House in Arlington, Virginia, an historic octagonal landmark for which he received multiple Arlington County Preservation Design awards.



Harlan's other chief passions were racing and building cars and high-performance motorcycles. He began road-racing cars in 1958 and bikes in 1969. He was a championship contender in the now defunct 200cc class in WERA/AAMRR/AMA racing, and he was a joint winner of many AAMRR/WERA 500cc endurance races. He enjoyed the fabrication and development of the machines as much as the riding and loved collaborating with his many "motorhead" friends. He was one of the few Americans to have built a Harris Performance Magnum Two motorcycle, and the Dresda race bike he designed competed in AHRMA Formula 750 races. Beginning in 2005, Harlan served as President of the Alfa Romeo Owners' Club Capital Chapter, and on the Board of Directors of The One Hundred Cars of Radnor in Philadelphia. Since 2001, he also served as Concour Judge for Radnor. On the last day of the 2016 Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance, he was given The Spirit of Radnor Award. He was deeply touched to be honored by the Radnor community, all the more so because this award was usually given to a car. His automobile, motorcycle and architectural design passions were the impetus for trips across the country and around the world, and defined his massive community of friends, colleagues, mentors and admirers.



In addition to his wife Garnet and his children Chelsea and Jordan, he is survived by his son-in-law Justin Reinhardt and his adoring grandchildren India and Miles Reinhardt. He was thrilled with recent news of an upcoming grandson, Forest, whom Jordan and his fiancée Kate are expecting in April. A private celebration of his life will be held at a future date.