Obituary of Paul Haney

(1928 - 2009)

Being the ultimate newspaper reporter, Paul wrote this obit in 2000 before it was discovered that he had cancer. This is what he would have you know:

Paul Haney, a longtime newsman who worked with NASA in its early days, died May 28, 2009, of cancer at Casa Arena Blanca nursing home. He was 80 years old.

 Haney was born in Akron, OH on July 20, 1928, to Martin D. and Louise B. Haney and grew up in Tallmadge, OH. He was one of six children, two sisters and three brothers. He put himself through suburban Kent State University by working nights for the Associated Press. Before serving two years in the Navy during the Korean War, he worked for the Erie (PA) Times. After he left the Navy he worked as a reporter at the Washington Evening Star.

In 1958, Haney left the Star to go to work for the start-up space agency NASA. He pioneered a real-time system of reporting events, as they happened, in the first manned flight program, Project Mercury.

In 1963, NASA transferred him to Houston where he became chief of public affairs for the then Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center), which directed manned Gemini and Apollo flights to the moon. During these early missions, he worked in the Mission Control Center as the "Voice of Mission Control," reporting live, real-time launch information to the TV public and to news media covering the launches.

He left NASA in 1969 to work in London for Independent Television News (ITN) and The Economist news magazine. In the '70s and '80s he worked for newspapers in Houston, TX, Charleston, S.C., St. Petersburg, FL, and El Paso, TX.

Since 1989, Haney lived in retirement on a five-acre cherry orchard in High Rolls, NM, 12 miles east of Alamogordo, NM. In 2008, Haney and his wife, Jan, moved from High Rolls to Alamogordo as his cancer continued to spread.

He and wife Jan were married in 1967. He is survived by his wife, Janet Haney, two living children from a previous marriage, Maura Haney Ford, of El Dorado Hills, CA and Megan Haney Reeves and her husband, Paul, also of El Dorado Hills, CA, and one step-son, Richard Shrum and his wife, Francis, of El Paso, TX. He is also survived by one sister, Mary Wilson, of Stow, OH, grandchildren Kelsey and Kyle Witherow of El Dorado Hills, CA, Daniel Reeves of Roseville, CA, Dani and Carye Shrum and Quee Williams, all of El Paso, TX, Quint Cantrell in AZ, a first cousin, Mary Wuest and her husband, Henry, of Fairlawn, OH, a brother-in-law, James Myers, of Baton Rouge, LA, a sister-in-law, Badiha Haney, of San Rafael, CA, as well as 20 nephews and nieces scattered across the country.

Haney was preceded in death by his parents, Martin and Louise Haney, his two boys, Michael and Daniel Haney, one sister, Betty Myers, of Baton Rouge, LA, and three brothers, Thomas (and Theresa) Haney of Akron, OH, John Haney (and Alice) of Doylestown, OH, and Kevin Haney of San Rafael, CA.

Haney will be cremated and his ashes placed in a crypt at Forest Park East Cemetery in League City, TX just south of Houston, TX at a later date.

This is what Paul's family would have you know:

Paul went through nearly 2-1/2 years of melanoma cancer including four surgeries on his face and neck. He had two rounds of radiation treatment at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, followed by two different rounds of chemotherapy in El Paso for subsequent tumors. The cancer eventually spread to his brain which was untreatable.

Paul was a fiercely strong, determined, and independent individual who never backed down or away from any issue or person whose opinion differed from his. He had a quick wit and enjoyed many friends and acquaintances who would just drop by the house to talk. His accomplishments were many during his time working as the head of the NASA Public Affairs Office and Voice of Mission Control at the then Manned Spacecraft Center (now Johnson Space Center) in Houston in the 1960's. He set up the first press center and put out the first and succeeding press booklets while organizing the first rapid transcript system for news media. These transcripts arrived on tables in the press center within no more than two hours documenting voice feed between Mission Control and the astronauts during missions.

Paul was never interested in writing books - his love was always in reporting the news. He did help other writers of space books by editing their work for accuracy, making educational space films, and answering space questions by would-be authors. His particular interests all his life were in current events, politics, and geography but he could talk to anyone about anything. His memory was phenomenal and his knowledge extensive. He was a wonderful story teller and people loved to hear his space tales. When someone asked one young son what his Daddy did for a living, his son replied, "He counts backwards." Paul had the ability to relate to anyone from the door solicitor to the Queen of England and many American presidents whom he had the privilege of meeting. He watched many sports on TV but his favorite was football, a sport in which he excelled both in high school and in the Navy (semi-pro) as a quarterback. He also was a good swimmer and participated in the New Mexico Senior Citizen Swimming Olympics. In his youth, he was a lifeguard for several summers getting a very dark tan which no doubt contributed a great deal to his skin cancer.

During his run with cancer, he never shied away from going places, seeing friends, swimming laps at the Alamogordo Recreation Center and eating lunch at the Senior Citizen Center with a bandage covering the missing part of his nose and struggling to eat with a partially paralyzed mouth due to his cancer surgery. He had no pain from the cancer or cancer treatments saying he didn't believe in pain or side affects! When asked if he was afraid of death at one point in the last year, Paul said, "No, not really, I'm curious to see what's on the other side."

Well, Paul, now you know and we expect you're already putting out a press release to tell the world. Our love has gone with you.

A memorial service will be held at the Alamogordo Funeral Home at 4:00 p.m. on June 20. Those in attendance are invited to join us immediately afterwards at the Desert Palms Mobile Home Estates, 2000 E. 1st Street, in the community recreation center for good conversation, memories, and refreshments.

In lieu of flowers, those wishing to make a contribution in Paul's name may do so to the New Mexico Museum of Space History (Alamogordo) or an Alamogordo cancer association such as Alamogordo Home Care-Hospice or the CAPPED organization. It was his wish that contributions be given to help those in need in the Alamogordo area.

Copyright © Genealogy Trails All Rights Reserved with Full Rights Reserved for Original Contributor