Harry Reyner (1889–1978) was the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

from 1930 to 1932. Before serving as mayor, he was a businessman, starting as a boy, selling pies to workers at the

Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy ...

. As an adult, he started a business as a ship chandler with his father. He left to fight in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and returned at the war's conclusion to run Associated Charities, which provided assistance to families suffering from the local depression that occurred when the shipyard lost its wartime shipbuilding contracts. He was first elected to serve on Newport News City Council in 1922. He served one term as mayor, and as mayor he established a pension fund for city employees. He also served four terms as vice-mayor.

Biography

Mayors of Newport News, Virginia 1889 births 1978 deaths 20th-century American politicians {{Virginia-mayor-stub