Lon E. Harmon; Founding Official at Progressive S & L

Lon E. Harmon, a founding officer and former president of The Progressive Savings & Loan Assn., whose branch openings attracted some of the nation’s biggest stars and brought hundreds of thousands of dollars to charity, has died of lymphatic cancer.

He was 52 and died Tuesday at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. He sold his stock in the 12-branch S&L; when he became ill last year.

Over the years Harmon drew such celebrities as Henry Kissinger, Jane Fonda, Lucille Ball and Jane Wyman to his office openings.

Their participation and Harmon’s underwriting of expenses resulted in assistance to such charities as H.E.L.P. for Handicapped Children, United Hostesses’ Charities and The Footlighters.

Harmon, who is survived by a daughter and will be buried in his native Oklahoma, had been with Progressive since its first office opened in 1964 in Alhambra.