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Eric Wyckoff Harris, Sr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 8, 1916 |
| Died | October 24, 2007 (aged 91) Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana |
| Occupation | Businessman; Founded first Jaycees chapter in Louisiana |
| Spouse(s) | Nelwyn Rhodes Harris (married 1941 – his death) |
| Children | Eric W. Harris, Jr. Sandra Harris Kearney |
Eric Wyckoff Harris, Sr. (January 8, 1916 – October 24, 2007) [1] was an Alexandria businessman and civic leader who in 1939 headed the committee which organized the first Louisiana chapter of the Jaycees, or United States Junior Chamber. A builder and real estate developer, he was co-owner of Hill Harris & Company from 1936 until 2005, when he and his brother, James C. Harris (1913–2009) closed the business, which was founded by their father. [2]
Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River in almost the exact geographic center of the state. It is the principal city of the Alexandria metropolitan area which encompasses all of Rapides and Grant parishes. Its neighboring city is Pineville. In 2010, the population was 47,723, an increase of 3 percent from the 2000 census.
Louisiana is a state in the Deep South region of the South Central United States. It is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States. Louisiana is bordered by the state of Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. A large part of its eastern boundary is demarcated by the Mississippi River. Louisiana is the only U.S. state with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are equivalent to counties. The state's capital is Baton Rouge, and its largest city is New Orleans.
The United States Junior Chamber, also known as the Jaycees, JCs or JCI USA, is a leadership training and civic organization for people between the ages of 18 and 40. It is a branch of Junior Chamber International (JCI). Areas of emphasis are business development, management skills, individual training, community service, and international connections. The U.S. Junior Chamber is a not-for-profit corporation/organization as described under Internal Revenue Code 501(c)(4).
Harris was born to Homer H. Harris, Sr. (1890–1971), [1] and the former Arletta Cato (1888–1987) [1] at Hard Times Plantation south of Alexandria. The family moved to Alexandria in 1921. He graduated from Bolton High School in Alexandria, attended Baptist-affiliated Louisiana College in Pineville for two years, and graduated from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. He was a member of Sigma Chi social fraternity. During World War II, Harris volunteered in the United States Army Air Corps. He piloted B-29 bombers. [2]
Plantations are an important aspect of the history of the American South, particularly the antebellum era. The mild subtropical climate, plentiful rainfall, and fertile soils of the southeastern United States allowed the flourishing of large plantations, where large numbers of workers, usually Africans held captive for slave labor, were required for agricultural production.
Bolton High School is a secondary educational institution located in the Garden District of Alexandria, the parish seat of Rapides Parish and the largest city in Central Louisiana. The school is named for its benefactor, James W. Bolton, an Alexandria banker who was one of the most prominent civic and political leaders of Central Louisiana during the first third of the 20th century.
Louisiana College (LC) is a private Baptist college in Pineville, Louisiana. Approximately 1,300 students are enrolled. Although the college is affiliated with a group of Southern Baptist churches, which make up the membership of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, students need not be a member of that denomination to attend.
Harris was a member of the Alexandria-Pineville Chamber of Commerce and chaired its aviation committee. He also served for a decade on the Rapides Parish Aviation Authority, including two years a president. Harris was a director of the Central Cities Development Corporation and a former president of the Rapides Parish Industrial Development Board. He was past president of the Alexandria Lions Club and scored perfect attendance for sixty-three years. He was active in the Committee for a Better Alexandria and worked on the development of navigation projects on the Red River. [2]
Aviation, or air transport, refers to the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. Aircraft includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as balloons and airships.
A decade is a period of 10 years. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek: δεκάς, translit. dekas), which means a group of ten. Other words for spans of years also come from Latin: biennium, triennium, quadrennium, lustrum, century, millennium.
Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, marine navigation, aeronautic navigation, and space navigation.
Harris was survived by his wife of sixty-six years, the former Nelwyn Rhodes of Alexandria; two daughters, Sandra Harris Kearney, and her husband, James Michael Kearney of Alexandria, and Conni Harris Smith of Lafayette, the widow of Hadley M. Smith (1940–1996); [1] one son, Eric W. Harris, Jr. (born ca. 1942) of Moncks Corner, South Carolina; brother James C. Harris of Alexandria, and five grandchildren. [2] He was preceded in death by another brother, Homer Harris, Jr. (1910–1999). [1]
Lafayette is a city in and the parish seat of Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, located along the Vermilion River in the southwestern part of the state. The city of Lafayette is the fourth-largest in the state, with a population of 127,657 according to 2015 U.S. Census estimates. It is the principal city of the Lafayette, Louisiana Metropolitan Statistical Area, with a 2015 estimated population of 490,488. The larger trade area or Combined Statistical Area of Lafayette-Opelousas-Morgan City CSA was 627,146 in 2015. Its nickname is The Hub City.
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died and a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The treatment of widows and widowers around the world varies.
Moncks Corner is a town in and the county seat of Berkeley County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 7,885 at the 2010 census. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, Moncks Corner is included within the Charleston–North Charleston–Summerville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Services were held on October 26, 2007, at First United Methodist Church in Alexandria, where he served on the building committee. Interment was at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville. [2]
Harris' brother, James C. Harris, was also an LSU graduate and a United States Navy veteran of the North Africa and Pacific theaters of World War II, with service in the Philippines. James Harris, who retired from Hill-Harris at the age of ninety-two, was also active in the Alexandria community, having been former presidents of both the Kiwanis Club and Kent Plantation House, a restored 19th century structure near Bayou Rapides. [3]
