Born in 1989, Vernon F. Hernlund, was a veteran of World War I. He was Director of Recreation for the Chicago Park District from 1957 to 1966 and was one of the founders of the Babe Ruth League for teenage baseball players. He was a member of the International Board of Babe Ruth Baseball, which was the policy-making body of the world's largest teenage baseball activity.
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, he earned bachelor`s and master`s degrees in medicine from the University of Chicago. He taught at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. He also was on several presidential advisory committees on recreation. He won a number of awards for his achievements in recreation.
Mr. Hernlund was inducted into the International Babe Ruth Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970.