Wayne R. ‘Buckshot’ Harman, longtime Baltimore County school administrator and parks official, dies

Jacques Kelly, Baltimore Sun
·3 min read

Wayne R. “Buckshot” Harman, the former Baltimore County Recreation and Parks director who was also a longtime schools administrator, died of vascular disease June 18 at Stella Maris Hospice. The Timonium resident was 89.

Born in Hanover, Pennsylvania, and raised in Hampstead in Carroll County, he was the son of Samuel Ridgely Harman, a carpenter, and Mary Francis, who ran the household. He was a graduate of Hampstead High School. He played softball, soccer and basketball.

He met his future wife, Lou Ann Resh, in the first grade and at Sunday School at the St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Hampstead. They married in 1956 at the same church.

Mr. Harman earned a degree at what was then the State Teachers College at Towson, now Towson University, where he was a member of an All-American soccer team. He was later named to the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame.

He began teaching in the Baltimore County Public Schools. He taught at Hampton Elementary School and was assistant principal at Merritt Point Elementary. He was principal at Oakleigh Elementary and Owings Mills High School. His final post was director of elementary education.

A Republican and ally of former Baltimore County Executive Roger B. Hayden, he then served as director of the county Recreation and Parks.

A 1994 article in The Baltimore Sun detailed how the state and county had completed an acquisition of the 367 acres for the Cromwell Valley Park with a purchase of the 45-acre Good Fellowship Farm for $2.6 million.

“We want to maintain the integrity of the valley and its natural beauty while still making it available to everyone who wants to use it,” said Mr. Harman.

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The Towson Times named Mr. Harman the Towson Man of the Year in 1995.

He went on to be director of the Teacher Institute in the Graduate and Professional Program at Goucher College. He was committed to education and public service, and he assisted in several local political campaigns.

Mr. Harman was an avid flounder fisherman and enjoyed fishing the back bays of Ocean City with his wife in a pontoon boat, the Lady Louise.

He enjoyed duck carving, collecting antique decoys, and spending time at his beach home with family. During retirement, he played golf regularly, and he and Lou Ann traveled throughout the United States and Europe.

“Wayne was known for his ability to tell a good [and long] story, and often recounted his soccer-playing days,” said daughter-in-law, Nancy Harman. “It was no secret he scored 57 career goals, averaging 1.5 goals a game with a record number of six goals in one game at Towson. Thus, the nickname Buckshot.”

He also picked up the name Buckshot in the third grade of elementary school when he first shot a BB rifle.

A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. July 13 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Lutherville, where he was a member for 62 years.

Survivors include his wife of 68 years, Lou Ann Resh, a retired registered nurse; a daughter, Cindy Dennis, of Perry Hall; a son, Todd Harman, of Stoneleigh; three grandchildren; and two great-grandsons.