Harry Reyner was the mayor

Mayor

In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....

 of Newport News, Virginia

Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...

 from 1930 to 1932. Before serving as mayor, he was a businessman, starting as a boy, selling pies to workers at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company

Northrop Grumman Newport News

Newport News Shipbuilding , originally Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , was the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001...

. As an adult, he started a business as a ship chandler with his father. He left to fight in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, and returned at the war's conclusion to run Associated Charities, which provided assistance to families suffering from the local depression that occurred when the shipyard lost its wartime shipbuilding contracts.

He was first elected to serve on Newport News City Council in 1922. He served one term as mayor, and as mayor he established a pension fund for city employees. He also served four terms as vice-mayor.