Maryanna Bernice Harned, 1942-2017
My sister
My sister, Maryanna (1942-2017), my only sibling, was two years older than me. We were both born in Des Moines, Iowa, but my family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, when we were todlers. Our parents separated when my sister was four and I was two, and, as both parents worked, we spent much time in day-care or with babysitters. As youngsters, we did everything together, depended on each other, and were great company to each other. We were best friends.
Maryanna high school graduation photo
Maryanna and me, c. 1950
We both attended Lincoln Elementary School although two grades apart. Maryanna spent her junior high years at Stevenson Intermediate School (1954-1957). She graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1960. I attended Washington Intermediate School (1956-1959). For my high school years, I attended a private school, Punahou, and graduated in 1962.
We grew up avid movie fans, especially musicals. In school activities, we were active in theater productions. Maryanna was particularly talented in serious dramatic roles, while I was more interested in the lighter comic roles and in dancing. However, Maryanna was also a lovely dancer and studied with several local teachers.
Maryanna grew up to be a strikingly beautiful girl. She had dark chestnut brown hair, brown eyes, and a pert little nose. She entered many beauty contests, and photographers frequently asked her to pose for them.
Maryanna, c. 1957
Maryanna also excelled in athletics, especially swimming, diving, and running. She was fearless and had great physical endurance. Once, when I was in the third grade, I saw her in the school playground hanging upside down and revolving several times on the jungle gym. I remember thinking, “How courageous! I could never do that! I don’t have the nerve.” I was never much of an athlete. But, Maryanna, wow!
We both participated in the local Honolulu Community Theatre. We were even in plays together, such as the children’s production, The Christmas Nightingale, and the musical, Carousel. For Carousel, we auditioned in early June 1958, opened on July 24, and closed on August 30. Maryanna was cast in the singing and dancing ensemble, while I danced as one of the Snow children. Our faces often appeared in newspaper publicity shots for the show. One newspaper article singled us out as one of the show’s many brother-and-sister teams. Little did I know that when the curtain came down on the last performance of Carousel on Saturday night, August 30, 1958, our lives would go in completely opposite directions. I eagerly plunged further into the local theatrical world, while Maryanna sped into the local sports world.
The following photo from the Honolulu Star Bulletin, August 3, 1958 (page B4), pictures Maryanna in one of Carousel’s musical numbers:
Maryanna is seated directly under the dancer on the right, Jose De Vega. Jose De Vega would later play “Chino” in the 1961 film West Side Story.
The athletic direction of Maryanna’s life began when she entered Roosevelt High School in the fall of 1957. Her physical education teacher noted her amazing running speed and lung capacity and suggested that she join one of the women’s track and field clubs. She put this off, since she was busy with school and local theatrics. However, during the summer of 1958, she decided to join the York XDR Club and began training in its women’s track program, after obtaining permission from our father. She trained whenever she could, even during the rehearsal and performance period of Carousel.
For a short while, like a blazing comet, Maryanna turned into a veritable local track star and quickly became a darling of the Honolulu sports pages. Between the summers of 1958 and 1959, her track running accomplishments and full-figured running photos appeared regularly in Honolulu newspapers. The story of my sister during this period is covered in a chapter labeled “Maryanna Harned – Champion Track Star” in my book, Unsung But Not Forgotten: Family Personalities with Surnames Bassett, Beutler, Bogdon, Charles, Green, Harned, Lane, Morgan, Phelps, Phipps (2018).
News photo of Maryanna in competition
1959 AAU Official Program (Maryanna, front far left)
The purpose of her training and running competitions was preparation for the 1960 Summer 0lympics to be held in Rome, Italy. However, the first major hurdle before going to Rome was to compete in the Girls’ and Women’s Track & Field Championships of the Amateur Athletic Union of the United States (AAU). These were to be held in June 1959 in Cleveland, Ohio, an entire year before the Rome Olympics.
Maryanna began training in the summer of 1958, when she was 15, with the other girls in the York XDR Club. She became proficient in two major track events -- the 800-meter run and the 880-yard run. Both are middle distance events, comprising a half-mile run around an outdoor track. The runs require intense aerobic endurance, anaerobic conditioning, and sprint speed. Maryanna had them all. By the summer of 1959, as she approached 16, she earned the Hawaii State records for the 800 meter run at 2:39.1 minutes and the 880 yard run at 2:35.2 minutes. Maryanna’s running scores were certainly AAU competitive. The other girls in her club also scored well in other track competitions. Her club was now ready to compete in the AAU track and field championships and prepared to travel to Cleveland.
Unfortunately, Maryanna got all the way to Cleveland only to end up being “scratched” from competition completely. While in training one day before the competition, she pulled a calf muscle in her right leg. As a result, she was in agony both physically and psychologically for the whole competition weekend, not being able to run in any of the events. It was a crushing blow. Her big chance was over! Maryanna’s coach, however, thought that Maryanna could have easily placed in the 800-meter run had she not pulled a calf muscle. In the end, only two of the Hawaiian team members made minor placements at the Cleveland competitions.
When Maryanna returned to Hawaii, she continued to suffer from her pulled muscle. After much soul searching, she chose to drop out of track competition altogether, including participation in the York XDR Club. In the end, her team members never made it to the Olympics.
NOTE: The current female record holder for the 800 meter run is Jarmila Kratochvílová of the Czech Republic. On July 26, 1983, she ran the event in 1:53.28 minutes in the World Championships in Athletics in Helsinki, Finland. To this day, her record is unbroken.
Maryanna went back to school and finished her senior year at Roosevelt High. After graduating in 1960, she entered the University of Hawaii, where she met and began dating athlete Bob Funes.
Bob Funes and Maryanna married in Honolulu in November 1962. Soon after their marriage, and influenced by close friends, they became Latter-Day Saints Church (Mormon) converts. Over the next fourteen years, they had seven children: Laura (1963), Jon (1966), Bobette (1968), Lee (1970), Angela (1973), Joylyn (1975), and Bob, Jr. (1977). Her husband, Bob, worked for the U.S. Army as a civilian employee and was often sent with his entire family to different assignments, including San Francisco, California; Okinawa, Japan; and Heidelberg, Germany.
Maryanna’s later life took a downturn. Mental illness plagued her consistently for the last forty years of her life. This resulted in a divorce from Bob, the alienation of most of her children, and long periods of homelessness. Thanks to the kindness of certain members of the Latter-Day Saints Church (Mormon) in Hawaii and friends she had made there over the years, she was able to retain her health and vigor. Sadly, her strength deteriorated suddenly in early 2017 and she passed away on April 30, 2017, at the age of 74 in Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii. Her family arranged for her cremation.