Council Adjourns in Memory of Longtime Local Recreation Leader, Wendell Harmon

Pasadena’s City Council opened Monday night’s meeting by dedicating its adjournment to the memory of Wendell Harmon, a longtime Recreation and Parks employee killed along with his wife, Beverly, late last year.

The couple was found dead from gunshot wounds by Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies conducting a welfare check at their home in Altadena on Dec. 20. Detectives later arrested a nephew, Melvin Johnson, 35, who was taken into custody? and booked on suspicion of murder on Jan. 7.

Mayor Victor Gordo said the council was taking the ceremonial action now because the Council had become totally focused on the Eatin Fire and its aftermath “shortly thereafter” and “realized that we didn’t give appropriate recognition…”

Gordo said that Harmon began his city career in 1988 as a recreation leader at Robinson Park, where he supervised evening programs for adults and youth and “played an integral role” in launching the young women’s softball program for girls 18 and under. Several of those players went on to compete in high school softball.

For more than a decade, Harmon oversaw the park’s multipurpose field, cultivated strong relationships with user groups, and “did a great job of building community” through his work.

Over the years, Harmon worked numerous special events for the department, and during the pandemic he was “on twenty-four/ seven” to prepare for 50 trailers at the Rose Bowl to support quarantine operations for first responders.

Outside of work, he was known as an avid Miami Dolphins fan who enjoyed fishing and hunting in Louisiana.

The council expressed its gratitude for Mr. Harmon’s “effective 36 years of service with the city of Pasadena.”

Councilmember Justin Jones, who requested the adjournment, called Harmon “a dedicated public servant to our city,” adding that staff, family and former colleagues had gathered last Friday, October 24, to celebrate his contributions.

“You could just feel the love in the air and just the appreciation for his commitment to our city and to his community,” Jones said.

Gordo added that public service runs in the Harmon family, noting that Wendell’s brother—affectionately known as “Peanut”—continues to work at Robinson Park. The council offered condolences to the family.