Harry August Labhart

Harry August Labhart, 87, passed away at his home on June 28, 2011. Born in Tell City, Indiana he was the 7th of 12 children from the late Henry and Leona (Thompson) Labhart. He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Billie (Dry) Labhart, sons Harry (Gordo, AL), Richard (Sam) (Port Deposit, MD), and Ronald (Philadelphia, PA), daughter Kelly Haines (Bel Air,MD); step-daughters Kathy Graybeal (Havre de Grace) and Mary Anne Barker (Baltimore); brothers Bill and his wife Ruth (Crestview, FL) and Jim and wife Lela (Crestwood, KY) and sister Joan Berg and husband Ken (Valley Station, KY) as well as six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He was pre-deceased by brothers Henry and Harold and sisters Henrietta (“Toots”) Silverthorn, Pearl Marie Labhart, Hazel Gayer, Ruth Horsley, Edith Walters, and Betty Killian.

A U.S. Marine Corps Veteran, Harry joined the Marines while still in high school and immediately upon his graduation he was sent to California for basic training. He served in the Pacific and on Guadalcanal during WWII from 1941 to 1946. He was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon with Bronze Star, the Asiatic Pacific Theatre Ribbon with 3 Bronze Stars, the American Defense Ribbon, a Good Conduct Ribbon, the WWII Victory Ribbon and both the Rifle and Pistol Sharpshooter Badges. After his honorable discharge, he worked for the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey and surveyed land across the continental United States and Alaska. He completed survey work on the radar network in Alaska called Project “DEW.“ He left there to begin work at Aberdeen Proving Ground where he spent the remainder of his 40-year career, retiring in 1979 as Chief of the Geodetic Section, where he also did underwater recovery work of Army projectiles.

Harry was an avid SCUBA diver who co-founded the Tri-Count Diving and Rescue Club. He began teaching SCUBA in 1960 and started the SCUBA course at HarfordCommunity College. He taught hundreds of people SCUBA over a 30-year period. In addition, he personally did volunteer rescue and recovery diving for the local police and sheriff’s offices for 20 years before they got their own dive teams. He was also an enthusiastic hunter of deer, turkeys and waterfowl, locally and in Pennsylvania and Alabama, using either a bow or a gun and he was a lifetime member of the Port Deposit VFW. He thoroughly enjoyed spending time, and sharing hunting stories, with his many friends and family. His philosophy was “don’t fence me in!”

A memorial service will be held at Zellman Funeral Home, 123 S. Washington Street, Havre de Grace, on July 14th with visitation at 10 a.m. and the service at 11 a.m. When that service is concluded it will be continued at the VFW in Port Deposit, MD where the Maryland Honor Guard will perform honors followed by a celebration of Harry’s life and a luncheon at the VFW.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in his memory to either “Wounded Warrior Project” 4899 Belfort Rd, Ste 300, Jacksonville, FL32256 (www.woundedwarriorproject.org) or The VFW Post 8185, Port Deposit, MD.

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