Ferndale community leader Leo Harnen, once honored as Ferndale Citizen of the Year and founder of Ferndale Day, died suddenly last week, only a day after participating in a Ferndale Roadrunners event.

A resident of Ferndale since the late 1960s, Mr. Harnen had been the president of the Ferndale Linthicum Area Community Council for the past 35 years.

He initiated the first Ferndale Day in the late 1970s along with fellow residents Stan Gesak and former state Sen. Michael Wagner to raise funds for the Ferndale Senior Center. The event has become a community tradition that raises all of the annual operating funds for the senior...