A. Lee Haines, Botany Instructor

A. Lee Haines, a botany instructor at Pierce College who taught from the institution’s infancy until his retirement 20 years ago, has died at his Woodland Hills home. He was 82.

A longtime Topanga resident who relocated to Woodland Hills after the Northridge earthquake, Haines died Feb. 28 of colon cancer, said his wife, Katherine.

After teaching at several Los Angeles high schools during the 1940s, Haines joined the staff of year-old Pierce College in 1948. He taught botany, biology, geology and served on a committee designing buildings for Los Angeles campuses.

At Pierce, he helped develop the school’s arboretum and a pine forest planted in memory of former educator Walter E. Koenig. He retired in 1974.

According to his wife, Haines’ hobbies included walking, bird watching and traveling to explore various forms of nature. In the early 1960s, the couple traveled to Costa Rica where Haines discovered a new species of bromeliad that was named Vriesoa Hainesiorum in his honor.

Born March 31, 1912, in Kansas City, Mo., Haines settled in Los Angeles with his family in 1927. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in botany from UCLA, where he met his future wife, fellow botany student Katherine Kneen. The pair were married in 1938 and moved to Topanga.

In addition to his wife of 56 years, Haines is survived by a son, Bruce Haines of Athens, Ga., two daughters, Lynn Dickhoff of Topanga and Carol Thille of West Hills, and two grandsons.

A private family service was held and no additional services are planned. Memorial donations may be made in Haines’ name to Hospice of the Canyon, P. O. Box 8896, Calabasas 91372.