Raymond Michael Harmer (1939 – 2024)

Mike Harmer was born in Yakima, Washington to parents Gerald and Ruth Harmer, and he grew up in Washington, Oregon, and California. Gerald Harmer worked on the Alaska Highway for Utah Construction in the 1940s and told his family stories about Whitehorse. Mike Harmer enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1957 and retired after his initial commitment and time in the Reserves. He attended college and married his wife Gwen (Stewart).¹⁾ Gwen’s parents, Jim and Gladys Stewart, were friends with Joe and Goody Sparling and they hired Mike as manager of the Regina Hotel. He then worked for Tire Town (now Fountain Tire) and then became an owner in Northern Metallic Sales, in charge of the tire division.²⁾

In 1991, Mike moved to Homer, Alaska and bought Homer Tire and started a new business called Peninsula Tire. He sold the business to Alyeska Tire in 2003. By that time, he was legally blind with macular degeneration. He wrote a book called How to Go Blind and Not Lose Your Mind, and volunteered on the Board of the Homer Independent Living Centre. He was working on writing a murder mystery when he passed away.³⁾