Chapala resident Vernon “Vern” Dale Haskell died October 13 in Guadalajara’s Terranova hospital from complications resulting from surgery. He was 86 years old.
Born February 4, 1925 in Salem, Oregon, Haskell joined the United States Army when he was 17 years old and landed with the second wave at Normandy as part of the Army Corps of Engineers, witnessing the liberation of Paris. He earned an engineering degree from the University of Oregon and worked as Midwest Regional Manager for the American Plywood Association, retiring when he was 52 years old. Upon his retirement, he spent ten years living on his trimaran “Misty,” before building a beach house at Ambergris Caye, Belize. He moved to the Lake Chapala area in 1998.
Haskell was a member and supporter of the Lake Chapala Society. He loved animals and enjoyed drawing them. He was visited regularly at his home by a transient, yet friendly, coatimundi and fed hundreds of hummingbirds daily from his porch overlooking Lake Chapala. His primary interest for the past three years centered on motorcycle riding.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his son Dana and his companion of 34 years, Ruth Chidister. He is survived by his children Kristie and Paul, grandchildren Alexa, Brooke, Erin and Jacob, his first wife Joan Kathryn Olness and two beloved cats.
On Sunday, October 23, an honor guard of his motorcycle friends will escort Haskell’s ashes from the La Huerta event center in west Ajijic and motor to the Casa Blanca Restaurant on the Chapala malecon, where there will be a brief memorial service. All riders are welcome to join the honor guard and all others are welcome to join the memorial. The honor guard will leave the event center at 1 p.m. and arrive at Casa Blanca in Chapala about 1:30 p.m.