John Herbert Harris

John Herbert Harris, 94, of South Yarmouth, MA and Peru, NY passed from this earth peacefully on January 27, 2022, at the Pavilion in Hyannis, MA with his daughters by his side and classical music filling the room.

A wonderful Christmas gift, John was born in Detroit MI on December 24, 1927, to Jennie (Leahey) Harris and Herbert Harris. He grew up in Detroit and was accepted at the prestigious Cass Technical High School, studying engineering. WWII interrupted John’s studies when he was drafted into the US Navy as a high school junior. He served as an airman radio navigator for 2 years on active duty, stationed in Hawaii, Guam, and San Diego, then joined the Naval Reserves and returned to Cass Tech to finish high school. The family moved to a farm in West Chazy, NY and John worked hard to put himself through college and graduate school, holding jobs all the way from Westport with the Delaware & Hudson Railroad to the A&P in Plattsburgh. In Plattsburgh, at a fateful party that would forever change his life, he met his sweet Joan and they wed in 1953, relishing 57 years of marriage until Joan’s passing in 2010.

Everyone who met John saw that he had such a big heart. He was kind and generous to family, friends and
even strangers, willing to lend a helping hand whenever he could. John was completely embraced as part of
Joan’s extended family of 11 siblings, becoming an honorary Wells from the start. They owned a series of
hotels on Cape Cod from 1972-1986. Vacationing guests and even some staff were so fond of the Harrises,
they followed them from hotel to hotel and many became lifelong friends. Even in the last years where he
relied more on the help of others, he was always there with a kind word, a please or a thank you. He loved to
share stories from his life and did so with a keen wit and humor. John loved animals and took special care of
all of Joanie’s cats for the past 12 years after she had passed. But that big heart was especially devoted to his girls: his beloved partner in crime, Joan, and his two daughters Mary and Kathleen. He and Joan opened their hearts to these two little girls, adopting them both as infants, giving them a loving and nurturing home. When the curious girls asked about where they came from, John described a large room filled with rows of bassinets (a baby “grocery store” in their young minds). He said he and Joan walked up and down the aisles looking into each little face until one smiled up at him and he pointed, announcing proudly, “I want her!” The girls always felt like they had been specially hand-picked by their dad. In turn, Mary took care of John later in life, enabling him to live independently at home and her love, care, and oversight of his health gave them all many more cherished years together. John was their protector and to the very end, reminded lead-footed Mary to drive safely every day.

Education and lifelong learning were central themes in John’s life. He attended Champlain College and SUNY
Plattsburgh, receiving a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s in education in both history and science.
He also took classes at UVM, Dickinson College and really valued skills in the trades. Supplemented by his
engineering training at Cass Tech, but largely self-taught, he had a passion for engineering design,
architectural drafting, building, stonework, and woodworking. John designed and built the brick split level
house on the corner of School Street and Birchwood Dr in Peru, NY with a bay window and large sandstone
hearth and fireplace which served as the gathering place for so many holidays and extended family events. He had a curiosity and passion for learning that he instilled in his children, and there was never a question his
daughters would go to college. John taught himself to sail, and at the age of 52, he took up flying lessons,
soloed, and got his private pilot’s license (alongside 16-year-old Kathleen). He was a self-taught entrepreneur, working hard to successfully run and maintain the hotels on Cape Cod during the summer while teaching full time during the school year.

In NY, John was best known as one of Peru High School’s favorite Earth Science teachers for 30 years, where he shepherded many young minds teaching them geology, astronomy, meteorology, the history of the earth and so much more. He was both beloved and revered by his students with his first day of school tough-guy speech: “I’m here to be your teacher, not your friend.” That act quickly evaporated and they all discovered his dry humor and soft side. He would joke that being born Christmas Eve made him closer to God and would
demonstrate this with a flourish by flicking open the blinds declaring “Let there be light… and there was,”
miraculously illuminating the darkened room after an earth science movie. One class in the early 80’s threw
him an end of year party with a giant card they made pronouncing him “The Earth’s Greatest Science Teacher.” John also ran the high school downhill ski club for years, giving students the opportunity to ski near
Lake Placid at Whiteface Mountain. He was even asked by the NY State Board of Regents to help write the
Earth Science Regents exam. John was a true man of science and taught his students to appreciate the natural world around them. In recent years, he received a letter from one student thanking him and explaining that he had studied to become a United States Geologist inspired by John’s example and passion. His own grandsons, Sam and Ben, have both pursued teaching as early careers; Sam teaching high school chemistry and earth science of all things!

Despite his humble depression era upbringing, John was drawn to arts and culture. He loved classical music,
opera, and ballet. As a 10-year-old in Detroit, every Sunday afternoon he would tune into the CBS radio
broadcast of the NY Philharmonic Symphony. When he was 7 years old, his grandfather gifted him a stamp
album and that began a lifelong passion for all things stamp-related: collecting, researching and history.
Stamp collecting served him well late in life, engaging his mind and imagination as he studied and “traveled”
to far away lands through his stamps. He was a regular at the Cape Cod area Philatelic Group monthly
meetings where he shared his own vast knowledge of stamps and made so many special friendships. As the
current leader of the stamp club said, “John was an esteemed member of our club, and we enjoyed his good
humor and stories.”

Best dad ever, family man, science teacher, hotel owner, Navy man, classical music and stamp aficionado who could fix, build, restore pretty much anything…. a true jack of all trades and renaissance man. That was John. John was predeceased by his parents, Jennie and Herbert Harris, his brothers, Francis “Bud” and Raymond Harris and his beloved wife Joan F (Wells) Harris. He is survived by his daughters Mary Harris (Mike Lewis), Kathleen Harris Orlin (Eric Orlin), grandsons Sam and Ben Orlin and multiple brothers and sisters-in law, nieces, nephews, and kitty cats.

Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to American Diabetes Association (https://www.diabetes.org/), Alley
Cat Allies (https://www.alleycat.org/) or St Jude Children’s Research Hospital (https://www.stjude.org/)

Funeral mass for John H Harris will be held on June 20, 2022, at 11am at St. John the Baptist, 18 Broad St, Plattsburgh, followed by interment at St. Peter’s Cemetery.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Brown Funeral Home, 29 Broad Street, Plattsburgh, NY 12901, (518)-
561-3980 and online condolences can be made at https://www.brownfuneralhomeinc.com/.