Vernon "Vern" Human was born in Dayton, Kentucky and died of pneumonia in Santa Ynez, California ten days after his 86th birthday.

Leaving the life of dairy farming, trapping and high school sports behind, Vern enlisted in the Air Force at 18. His desire for travel was granted. He fought in the Korean War and spent time in Japan. When he returned to the states, he discovered California and lived there until 2002.
Vern began college at Pasadena City College, then finished his degree at San Francisco State. Returning to Los Angeles, he worked as a marine biologist. He was a lifelong student who pursued his interests in depth, becoming a self-taught expert in many aspects of the natural world.

With first wife, Gerry, and daughter Sappho, he moved to Summerland in 1970. The marriage ended in 1977. Subsequently, he and Virginia Harrington met and he joined her in Lompoc.
Fourteen years later they were married.

During his Lompoc years, Vern worked as a field biologist on Vandenberg Air Force Base and for Santa Barbara County. He contributed his surveys of its birds, flowering plants and fungi to La Purisima Mission.

Every day that he could, he walked trails, roadsides and other areas, noticing and noting. The unrecognized became a new challenge. Vern left behind over 30 years of daily journals which are treasures of his nature observations.

Active in both Audubon and the Lompoc Valley Botanical and Horticultural Society (LVBHS), he was a regular contributor to their publications. LVBHS was instrumental in the publishing of Vern's book "A Naturalist at Play in Coastal California" in 2004.

After several years of living part time in the Arkansas Ozarks, Vern and Virginia lived there permanently from 2001-2017 when they returned to Lompoc. During these years, he continued to observe, study and record.

Left behind are his wife, Virginia Harrington and her children, Mark Martin, Mary Martin and Betty Brady. Also surviving is his daughter Sappho Charney and her husband Mark. He leaves a bevy of grandchildren, claimed through marriage and formal and informal adoption; Casey Brady, Eloisa Castillo, Jules and Alice Charney, Erik Germesin, Chanda Martin, Betsy, Holly, Jesse and Tracy Merrifield, Pam Stricklin and Alexis Vaughan. Great grandchildren are Elissa and Ben Sabin and Louis Martin.

A memorial service for Vern will be held at Miguelito Park on Saturday, June 3, 2017 at 10:00 am. All are welcome.