William F. Harney, 82, Lincoln Lab industrial designer
William F. Harney, an industrial designer with MIT's Lincoln Laboratory for 39 years, died Feb. 19. He was 82.
Harney worked at Lincoln Laboratory from 1951--the year it opened--until his retirement in 1991. He worked together with his wife, Janice Gerardi Harney, a 26-year veteran of Lincoln Lab, from 1951 until 1977. The both served in Group 71.
Harney, who was also a skilled and award-winning model builder, was born in Cambridge to the late William F. and Gladys (Harrow) Harney. He graduated from Lynn English, Class of 1943, and attended the Mass. Trade Shop school in Boston. He served with the U.S. Navy during World War II as Radar Second Class on the USS Silverstein.
Harney won the U.S. model airplane championship in 1973, and his models have been displayed at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in New York State and at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Several of his models were also donated by MIT to the Strategic Air Command Museum in Ashland, Neb.
In addition to his wife, he leaves three sons: William F. Harney Jr. and his wife, Kathleen, of Danvers, Mass.; Michael J. Harney of Acton, Mass.; and Thomas E. Harney of Everett, Mass.; two brothers, Donald F. Harney of Florida and Robert E. Mitchell of Everett, Mass.; his grandson, William F. Harney III; and his granddaughter, Emily Harney. He was the brother of the late Eleanor F. Demboski.
Funeral services were held on Thursday, Feb. 28. Burial was private. Donations in his memory may be made to the Friends of the Plymouth Pound, P.O. Box 578, Manomet, MA 02345.
Carmelina O'Malley, former MIT Faculty Club hostess, 84
Carmelina (Olivieri) O'Malley, a former hostess at the MIT Faculty Club, died March 3 in Fort Myers, Fla., after a lengthy illness. She was 84.
A resident of Lynn for most of her life, O'Malley spent 39 years working as a hostess/cashier at the MIT Faculty Club. She was a member of the Quarter Century Club and was an Honorary Matron of MIT.
O'Malley leaves a husband, Michael O'Malley; a son, Robert; a daughter, Brenda; three grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; two sisters and several nieces and nephews.
A funeral Mass was held Friday, March 7, at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Lynnfield. Donations may be made to American Heart Assn., P.O. Box 3049, Syracuse, NY 13220.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on April 9, 2008 (download PDF).
