Long before students at Harper College in Palatine had the option of using computers to register for classes, there was Anna Harshbarger.
The friendly former registration assistant greeted hundreds of students with a smile as she helped them with paperwork or scheduling conflicts.
For more than 20 years, Mrs. Harshbarger worked in many capacities at the school, motivated by her love for its students, said her son James.
“She literally touched a lot of people’s lives,” her son said. “She enjoyed people. Her presence was always felt by others.”
Mrs. Harshbarger, 76, died Monday, Oct. 10, of lung cancer in her Hoffman Estates home.
Raised on Chicago’s South Side, she was married to R. Dean Harshbarger, who died before her.
Mrs. Harshbarger started as a full-time employee with the college in 1978 and later worked part-time until she became ill last year.
Mrs. Harshbarger left a lasting impression on her colleagues at Harper College.
Maria Moten, Harper’s dean of enrollment services, said Mrs. Harshbarger was an outstanding employee who was committed to the students, whom she always made her top priority.
“Most people will remember her positive attitude and great sense of humor and how she was always looking for ways to help,” Moten said.
Mrs. Harshbarger’s legacy of helping Harper students will continue.
At her request, her family has established the Anna Harshbarger Scholarship Fund to aid second-year nursing students who are single parents.
Her son said the idea for the fund was born of his mother’s desire to help the students she felt were most in need.
“I think she wanted to see people get a leg up if they were a single parent, raising a child, trying to work their way up,” James Harshbarger said.
Other survivors include a daughter, Katherine Red; two other sons, David and Paul; a sister, Lorraine Hall; 12 grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Services will begin at 11 a.m. Thursday at Ahlgrim & Sons Funeral and Cremation Services, 330 W. Golf Rd., Schaumburg.
———-
kataiyero@tribune.com
