SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 407 Offered January 12, 2007 Celebrating the life of David W. Harned. ---------- Patron-- Puller ----------

WHEREAS, David W. Harned, a retired naval officer, former public works director, and a well-known columnist for the Chronicle Newspapers, died on November 2, 2006; and

WHEREAS, David Harned was born in Washington, D.C., grew up and graduated from high school in Louisville, Kentucky, and attended the United States Military Academy at West Point for a year and a half; and

WHEREAS, after leaving the Academy, David Harned attended what is now the J.B. Speed School of Engineering, completed the Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps in 1958, and was commissioned an ensign in the United States Navy; and

WHEREAS, Ensign Harned was assigned to the heavy cruiser, the USS Bremerton, stationed in Long Beach, California, as the assistant gunfire control officer; and he saw duty in all of the hot spots of the Asia-Pacific region—Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, Australia, and the Philippines; and

WHEREAS, during his time in the military, David Harned attended the University of Washington in Seattle and graduated with a master’s degree in civil engineering in 1964; and

WHEREAS, during his naval career, David Harned served tours of duty in Vietnam, Japan, New London, Connecticut, and lastly, at the Washington Navy Yard as public works officer; and

WHEREAS, Commander Harned retired from the Navy in 1982 and for 12 years was the outstanding director of public works for El Paso, Texas; and

WHEREAS, after his retirement as director, Commander Harned moved to Fredericksburg, Virginia, where he opened his own engineering consulting business; and

WHEREAS, in 1999, Commander Harned and his wife settled in Mason Neck, Virginia, where he immediately became active in the community, serving on the boards of the Federation of Lorton Communities and the Mason Neck Citizens Association; and

WHEREAS, in March 2001, Commander Harned began writing The Traffic Doc column in the second edition of the first Chronicle Newspapers, the South County Chronicle; readers enjoyed his informative and educational column on how their hard-earned tax dollars were being utilized; and

WHEREAS, because of his years of public works experience, Commander Harned provided an invaluable public service, by conveying to his Northern Virginia readers the status of road projects and the difficult problems encountered in public road construction and maintenance; and

WHEREAS, David Harned will be fondly remembered for his keen intellect and wonderful sense of humor and his devotion to fellow citizens and greatly missed by his wife and loving family and his numerous friends and admirers in Northern Virginia; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the Senate, the House of Delegates concurring, That the General Assembly mourn the passing of a fine public servant and outstanding Virginian, David W. Harned; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the Senate prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of David W. Harned as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.