Granby Living April2020

CELEBRATING OUR SENIORS
Harry Werner with his friendly donkeys
HARRY WERNER
GRANBY’S HORSE DOCTOR FOR 46 YEARS
By Sarah Merrill
Harry Werner Jr. knew from a young age
that he wanted to be a veterinarian. But having
grown up a city kid in South Philadelphia, it
wasn’t until he was in vet school that Harry
even had contact with a horse or a cow. He
would ultimately become an expert in the care
of horses and other farm animals and did so for
46 years. He retired in February.
Born in 1947, Harry grew up in a diverse
community representing a melting pot of
immigrant families. His parents were Harry
and Mildred (Steel) Werner, both born in Philly
and married in 1936 in the middle of the Great
Depression. “My father would say that they lost
nothing in the Depression because they had
nothing to lose,” says Harry.
His mother Mildred was the daughter of
Turkish and Scottish immigrants, and his
father Harry Sr. was the son of immigrants
from Frankfurt, Germany. Harry’s paternal
grandmother was born on a ship just outside of
New York Harbor in the 1860s.
“Our grandmother knew perfect English but
would only speak German to me and my sister
Mary,” says Harry. “And because Grandma
essentially ran our household, if we wanted to
eat, we spoke German!”
Harry earned a biology degree at the
University of Delaware and then completed
one year of graduate study in chemistry to
facilitate his admittance to the University of
Celebrating Our Seniors is sponsored by McLean
Harry with his faithful dog
companion, Rose, 2006
Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.
While in college, Harry met his wife Susan
(Harrison). “Susan deserves full credit for
my getting my act together and actually
accomplishing my goals,” says Harry. While
he was in graduate school, Susan worked
as a bank teller during the day and finished
her undergraduate degree at night at Temple
University. Harry and Susan were married in
1969.
Harry entered vet school assuming he’d work
with cats and dogs. However, within a couple of
weeks, he bumped into an equine veterinarian
who offered him a job drug-testing horses at
racetracks and horse shows all over the East
Coast. “That experience really caught my
attention,” says Harry.
His next job was also with large animals,
testing milk from Lancaster County dairy cows
for the Upjohn Company. Harry began to tailor
his graduate studies so that all his electives
were geared toward horses, cows and other
farm animals.
Shortly before Harry graduated, Dr. Robert
Milkey of Granby visited Penn Vet with his
injured racehorse. By chance, Harry was one of
the students assigned to this horse. Bob invited
Harry to Granby to take a look around, and
in 1974 Harry took a position with Milkey &
Davis. This practice would grow and become
Salmon Brook Veterinary Hospital.
Susan and Harry bought a home on Kearns
Circle, where they raised their two children,
HP (Harry Phillip) and Robin. Today, HP is a
sailor with the Merchant Marines, traveling all
over the world. Robin has an education degree
and lives in Avon with her husband and three
children (14, 12, 8). Harry found Granby a
great place to raise their kids. He coached his
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75 Great Pond Road | Simsbury, CT 06070
A Life Plan Community
12 | APRIL 2020