Recognition Reception Honoree
George R. "Hank" Haines
(Presented Posthumously)

George R. “Hank” Haines was born in 1917 at his home in Rydal, and he passed away in 2008 at his home in Abington.  Except for five years in the Navy as Lieutenant, U.S.N.R., Hank lived his entire life in Abington.  He graduated from Meadowbrook School in 1930, Abington High School in 1935, and the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Economics in 1939.  For several years, Hank ran a family business liquidating hosiery mills and selling the equipment secondhand.  He was a licensed broker of textile plants and equipment and a partner with Joseph Haines, Jr. and Sons.  He served as a Director at First American Savings & Loan from 1966 to 1987 and on the Regional Advisory Board for Industrial Valley Bank (now Wachovia) from 1967 to 1975.

Hank’s community service had a major impact on Abington Township.  He served for 17 years as a Township commissioner, 10 of those years as president of the Board of Commissioners.  Hank also served on the boards of the Visiting Nurse Association of Montgomery County, the Abington YMCA, and the American Red Cross Southeastern Branch, as well as on the Advisory Board of the Penn State campus in Abington and Briar Bush President’s Council.  He served on the Montgomery County Commissioners Committee to Survey Public Heath Departments, chaired the Abington Township Vacancy Committee, was a member of the Civilian Advisory Council for the Department of Environmental Resources, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and was president of the Abington Township Police Pension Association.  He served as secretary to the Board of Governors at Huntingdon Valley Country Club from 1955 to 1972, president of the Meadowbrook School Board from 1959 to 1960, and vestryman at St. John’s Episcopal Church from 1957 to 1959.  Hank received the Community Service award from the Rydal/Meadowbrook Civic Association in 1981 and the Boy Scouts of America Community Service Award in 1983 and was active raising funds for the Abington Township Police Athletic League up until 2007.

Hank was also active until the end of his life as a fundraiser for Abington Memorial Hospital.  He was legendary for having attended every June Fete fundraiser since the age of 10.  He joined the hospital’s Board of Trustees in 1956, and throughout the 1950’s and early 1960’s he was active on several board committees, including public relations and fundraising.  He also served as co-chair of the capital campaign that made possible construction of the hospital’s Harrison Pavilion, 10 new operating rooms and four new floors atop the Highland Building.  In 1962, he stepped down as a trustee to accept a new position at the hospital–that of Director of Development and Public Relations.  In 1986, he retired from the position but soon returned to serve as a consultant to the office, a role he continued to fill through 2007.

Over the years, Hank was honored with the hospital’s highest accolades, including being presented the prestigious Trustee Distinguished Service Award in 1986, named Emeritus Trustee in 1997, awarded the Dr. Alfred S. Frobese Award in 2005, and honored with both the AMH Loyalty Award and the AMH Muller Center’s Suzanne F. Roberts Senior of the Year Award in 2007.  In addition, Hank was recognized by the Association of Fundraising Professionals with a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005.

When asked how he managed to do it all, Hank once answered, “I keep my focus on the good.”  For Hank, the heart of “the good” was always Barbara, his wife of 61 years, with whom he tended their large garden, traveled widely, created intricate artwork from rocks and shells gathered on Florida beaches, and nurtured a larger family that includes a son and two daughters, seven grandchildren, a great grandson and a great granddaughter.

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