George Edward Harris

Harris, George Edward, 82, died January 13, 2005, after a long, courageous battle with cancer. A Memorial Service will be held at 12:00 P.M., Tuesday, January 18 at St. James Episcopal Church, 3750 E. Douglas. Mr. Harris was born February 16, 1922 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Orphaned at birth, he spent the first years of his life in a Catholic orphanage and gave credit to the Catholic nuns for steering him in the right direction during his early youth. He also felt blessed to have been adopted by the Harris family of Pensacola, Florida, who instilled in him integrity, solid work habits and faith. As a young child, he would hang around the docks and marinas to earn spending money helping out wherever needed, and as a result of this, he developed a passion for boats. He owned many during his lifetime and is referred to as “The Captain” by many of his longtime friends. Mr. Harris was confirmed in Christ Episcopal Church in Pensacola, Florida, and graduated from Pensacola High School in 1941. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. After his discharge from the service, as he was traveling home to Pensacola, a stranger told him that he should stop in Wichita, Kansas, because there were a lot of opportunities in the aircraft business there. He got a job immediately at Cessna and then soon afterwards went to Boeing where he worked in the Experimental Flight Test Engineering Division as a Chief Flight Engineer. He was a member of the flight test crew of “Sweet Sixteen,” the 16th B-29 to come off the line. Mr. Harris knew the aircraft industry and his association with the engineers and purchasing agents at the plants allowed him to start his own business, The Harris Company. He also had attended Kansas University and taken classes in Aeronautical Engineering. He worked hard and the business flourished. Soon the Company had branch offices in seven states and later also worked with several European companies. He owned and piloted numerous planes during these years, which helped make the business better able to respond to the needs of its customers. Sales and Engineering Representation, a book about The Harris Company published in 1957, was used as a textbook in business classes at the University of Oklahoma. Fortune Magazine and Midwest Industry Magazine also wrote feature articles discussing his sales and engineering practices and procedures. In 1999, Mr. Harris semi-retired and became an active member of St. James Episcopal Church. It was fate that brought him back to Wichita and the church he had loved so much in his younger years. When he returned to St. James, he met Beverly Calvert; they spent their first year dating and falling in love. It was in the second year of their relationship that they were both diagnosed with cancer. Even through their struggles with cancer, the next three years were filled with a love and closeness that many dont experience in a lifetime. Mr. Harris loved philanthropy and through the years made generous donations to the New Orleans Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America, the Volunteer Fire Department of Cleveland, Oklahoma, and Center of Hope, Wichita. He donated many items to the Experimental Aircraft Association, Oklahoma. Mr. Harris was a very proper, polite, genteel gentleman who was loved by all who knew him and he will be sorely missed. He leaves to mourn: Beverly Calvert, partner, of Wichita; daughter and son-in-law Georgia and David Alexander, of Derby; son, John Charles Harris of Vero Beach, Florida; granddaughter and family, Barbara and Wess Lewis and children Wesly and Dylan of Wichita; grandson Brian Smith of Wichita; Beverlys children Joe and Connie Calvert, Chris, Cassie and Corrie of Fargo, North Dakota; Rebecca and Doug Johnson, Kelly and Kayla of Flower Mound, Texas; and Marti and Dave Clothier, David and Jonathan of Wichita, and a host of dear friends. Memorials have been established with St. James Episcopal Church, 3750 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS, 67208, Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice, 313 S. Market, Wichita, KS, 67202 and Victory in the Valley, 3755 E. Douglas, Wichita, KS, 67218. Downing Lahey Mortuary East.