Chadwick and McKinney Funeral Home

MICHAELS — Frederick C. Haab of Villanova, Pa., and St. Michaels, Md., died peacefully at age 79 on April 2, 2017, in his home in Villanova, Pa. He was born in Philadelphia on Nov. 23, 1937.He was a graduate of the Episcopal Academy, class of 1955, and Cornell University, BA economics, class of 1959, where he was a member of the Sigma Phi Fraternity. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army, 1st lieutenant, 1959-1961, Battalion Adjutant, 35th Artillery, Fort Lewis, Wash.His career was with the F. C. Haab Co. Inc., a fuel oil and lubricants distributor, headquartered in Philadelphia, Pa., where his last title was chairman of the board. He was active from 1961-2011, when he retired. The company was founded by his father, Fred C. Haab, in 1946. He worked with his two sons.Fred was actively involved with many organizations, including former chairman of the board of trustees of the Episcopal Academy, from 1992-1999, after joining the board in 1975. He also served as president of the Alumni Society and as an emeritus trustee. He received the school’s Distinguished Service award in 1999.Fred was a former president of the Union League of Philadelphia from 2007-2008. He joined the league in 1961 and was a member for 56 years until his death.He was a former president of the PENJERDEL Council from 1986-1988.Further, Fred was a former president of the Pennsylvania Petroleum Association, and a former board member of the following organizations: Continental Bank, MidAtlantic Bank and the Advisory Board of PNC Bank, Main Line Health Board of Governors, 2002-2011 and Maritrans Operating Partnership, Tampa, Fla.He was a member of the Philadelphia Country Club for over 50 years, the Ausable Club in the Adirondacks, N.Y., St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church, Gladwyne, Pa., and the Miles River Yacht Club, St. Michaels, Md.He had honor, courage, integrity and a fine sense of humor, as well as empathy for his fellow man. He was a leader who took an active role in every organization with which he was associated. He was a man of faith. He was a very ... (The Star Democrat)

He was 93. “He basically died of old age. He didn’t have a long, drawn-out illness,” Harris’ son, Craig Donnelly, who followed his father’s footsteps into the field of handicapping, told Daily Racing Form. Harris spent half a century writing about horse racing and became one of the most respected handicappers in the business. Harris began his legendary career in handicapping in 1957, working for the Akron Beacon Journal, covering the races at a little known track called Ascot Park.LaVell Edwards, legendary BYU football coach, dead at 86 Harris worked for the Miami Herald, the Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily Racing Form before he took a job as a writer at the Daily News in 1977. He covered horse racing in the Big Apple for 11 years with The News and remained on as a handicapper through 2008. “He wrote a lot, but he loved the handicapping aspect of it because he was very competitive,” Donnelly said. “They kept score how many winners everybody was picking, and he always prided himself on picking more winners than everybody. It was important to him.” At the 1979 Belmont Stakes, Harris chose Coastal, who upset Spectacular Bid’s Triple Crown attempt.Keion Carpenter, former NFL and Virginia Tech safety, dead at 39 One of Harris’ crowning acheivements was when he picked all nine winners on a card at Belmont Park in 1991. Daily News readers religiously followed Harris’ picks and trusted his knowledge of the track. “I look at every race like I’ve had eight winners on the day and this is the ninth race,” Harris told former Newser Bill Finley in a 2005 interview. “ I don’t pick any duds, if I can avoid it.” Harris was selected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s Joe Hirsch Media Roll of Honor in 2011.Oliver Prinz von Anhalt, Zsa Zsa Gabor’s adopted son, dead at 45 But there was more to Harris than just his uncanny ability to pick a good horse. In 1999, at 75, the newspaperman earned his Ph.D. from Lehigh University. He wrote a 378-page thesis on the relationship between Charles de Gaulle and six U.S. Presidents. In addition t... (New York Daily News)