American politician
Victor Robert Hewlett Yarnell (October 5, 1919 – January 22, 2015) was a Canadian-born American politician who served as the Mayor of Reading, Pennsylvania, as a Democrat between 1968 and 1972.[1][2]
Life
Yarnell was born on October 5, 1919, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to an Irish father and an English mother.[3] He was educated in England as a boarder at Bedford Modern School after which he served in the British Army throughout World War II seeing action in Dunkirk and taking part in the Normandy landings.[3] After the war, Yarnell moved to the United States attending Albright College and later graduating M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.[1]
For the following twelve years Yarnell taught government at Muhlenberg High School[4] until his election as a Democrat to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in the 1963 session although deciding not to seek reelection to the House in 1964.[1] In 1968, Yarnell was elected 41st Mayor of Reading, Pennsylvania, an office he held until 1972.[1] Thereafter he continued community work in Reading as director of the Schuylkill River Green Association (1979-1997) and as a member of the board of trustees of Reading Area Community College.[1]
Yarnell died in Reading, Pennsylvania, on January 22, 2015. He was survived by his wife, Nancy, and a son.[4]
