Verna Elizabeth Hanes, distinguished medical, military career
Verna Elizabeth Hanes of Seaford passed away peacefully at home Tuesday, July 4, 2023. She was born Jan. 27, 1946, in Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, to the late Melvin E. and Margaret B. (Murray) Hanes.
Verna had a distinguished medical and military career, serving her country as a physician in the U.S. Naval Reserve and then in the U.S. Air Force, retiring at the rank of colonel. She enjoyed gardening, cooking, reading medical mystery novels, and playing word games like Scrabble. More than anything, Verna treasured time spent with family and friends. She was a loving mother, grandmother, sister, and aunt, and was extremely proud of her family, especially her grandchildren.
In addition to her parents, Verna was predeceased by her son, Daniel Adam Schultz; and her brother, Melvin Angus Hanes. She is survived by her daughter, Kathleen (Schultz) Leebel (John); her daughter-in-law, Susan (Quinn) Schultz; her grandchildren, Else and Adelle Leebel, and Madelyn, Avery, Sadie, and Quinn Schultz; her sister, Lorna Margaret (Hanes) Morrison; and many nieces and nephews, grand-nieces and -nephews.
Verna graduated in 1964 from Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, Md, and received a scholarship to George Washington University, majoring in pre-medicine. After graduation, she attended George Washington University School of Medicine. She completed her internship and residency at Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., and was awarded fellowships in infectious disease at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and later in microbiology at University of Texas, John Sealy Hospital in Galveston, Texas. Verna was also a medical and microbiological researcher, publishing papers in journals such as the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography. She held several teaching assignments in her career including positions at George Washington School of Medicine, the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., and the University of California at Davis in Sacramento, Calif., where she was an associate clinical professor of medicine. Later in her career, Verna joined Greenbrier Physicians in Ronceverte, W.Va., as an internist and infectious disease consultant. She loved the beauty of West Virginia and cherished the friendships she made there. With retirement on the horizon, she moved to Seaford to be closer to family and served as a hospitalist at TidalHealth Nanticoke Memorial Hospital. Verna found her work in research and teaching rewarding, but she loved being a clinician, and over the years received numerous notes from patients and their families thanking her for the excellent care she gave them.
Services will be private.
Final care for Dr. Hanes has been entrusted to Parsell Funeral Homes and Crematorium, Atkins-Lodge Chapel, Lewes.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given to the For Pete's Sake Cancer Respite Foundation, takeabreakfromcancer.org; or Delaware Hospice, delawarehospice.org/donate.
visit Dr. Hanes' Life Memorial webpage and sign her virtual guestbook at parsellfuneralhomes.com.
