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Created page with " {{Infobox person | name = Eric Wyckoff Harris, Sr.<br> (Businessman who founded the first Jaycee chapter in Louisiana) | image = | image_size = | cap..."
{{Infobox person
| name = Eric Wyckoff Harris, Sr.<br>
(Businessman who founded the first Jaycee chapter in Louisiana)
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =s
| birth_date =January 8, 1916
| birth_place =Rapides Parish, [[Louisiana]], [[United States|USA]]
| death_date =October 24, 2007
| death_place = [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], Louisiana
|spouse=Nelwyn Rhodes Harris (married 1941-2007, his death)<br>
Children:<br>
|children=Eric W. Harris, Jr.<br/>
Sandra Harris Kearney<br/>
Conni Harris Smith
| religion=[[United Methodist]]}}
'''Eric Wyckoff Harris, Sr.''' (January 8, 1916 – October 24, 2007), was an [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] [[business]]man and civic leader who in 1939 headed the committee which organized the first [[Louisiana]] chapter of the Jaycees, now called the 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 had been founded by their father.<ref name=obit>Eric W. Harris obituary, ''Alexandria Town Talk'', October 25, 2007.</ref>
Harris was born to Homer H. Harris, Sr. (1890–1971) and the former Arletta Cato (1888–1987)<ref name=ssdi/> at Hard Times Plantation south of Alexandria. The family moved in 1921 to Alexandria, where he graduated from Bolton High School, attended [[Southern Baptist]]-affiliated [[Louisiana College]] in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]] for two years, and graduated from [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]]. He was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. During [[World War II]], Harris volunteered in the [[United States Army]] Air Corps, the forerunner of the [[United States Air Force]]. He piloted [[B-29]] bombers.<ref name=obit/>
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 International 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.<ref name=obit/>
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); one son, Eric W. Harris, Jr. (born c. 1942) of Moncks Corner, [[South Carolina]], and five grandchildren.<ref name=obit/> He was preceded in death by another brother, Homer Harris, Jr. (1910–1999).<ref name=ssdi/>
Services were held First [[United Methodist]] Church in Alexandria, where he served on the building committee. Interment was at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville.<ref name=obit/>
Harris' brother, James C. Harris, was also an LSU graduate and a [[United States Navy]] veteran of the Mediterranean, Middle East and African, 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 International and the Kent Plantation House, a restored 19th century structure near Bayou Rapides.<ref>Obituary of James C. Harris, ''Alexandria Town Talk'', February 27, 2009.</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Eric W.}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:United Methodists]]
{{Infobox person
| name = Eric Wyckoff Harris, Sr.<br>
(Businessman who founded the first Jaycee chapter in Louisiana)
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =s
| birth_date =January 8, 1916
| birth_place =Rapides Parish, [[Louisiana]], [[United States|USA]]
| death_date =October 24, 2007
| death_place = [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]], Louisiana
|spouse=Nelwyn Rhodes Harris (married 1941-2007, his death)<br>
Children:<br>
|children=Eric W. Harris, Jr.<br/>
Sandra Harris Kearney<br/>
Conni Harris Smith
| religion=[[United Methodist]]}}
'''Eric Wyckoff Harris, Sr.''' (January 8, 1916 – October 24, 2007), was an [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] [[business]]man and civic leader who in 1939 headed the committee which organized the first [[Louisiana]] chapter of the Jaycees, now called the 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 had been founded by their father.<ref name=obit>Eric W. Harris obituary, ''Alexandria Town Talk'', October 25, 2007.</ref>
Harris was born to Homer H. Harris, Sr. (1890–1971) and the former Arletta Cato (1888–1987)<ref name=ssdi/> at Hard Times Plantation south of Alexandria. The family moved in 1921 to Alexandria, where he graduated from Bolton High School, attended [[Southern Baptist]]-affiliated [[Louisiana College]] in [[Pineville, Louisiana|Pineville]] for two years, and graduated from [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]]. He was a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. During [[World War II]], Harris volunteered in the [[United States Army]] Air Corps, the forerunner of the [[United States Air Force]]. He piloted [[B-29]] bombers.<ref name=obit/>
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 International 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.<ref name=obit/>
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); one son, Eric W. Harris, Jr. (born c. 1942) of Moncks Corner, [[South Carolina]], and five grandchildren.<ref name=obit/> He was preceded in death by another brother, Homer Harris, Jr. (1910–1999).<ref name=ssdi/>
Services were held First [[United Methodist]] Church in Alexandria, where he served on the building committee. Interment was at Greenwood Memorial Park in Pineville.<ref name=obit/>
Harris' brother, James C. Harris, was also an LSU graduate and a [[United States Navy]] veteran of the Mediterranean, Middle East and African, 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 International and the Kent Plantation House, a restored 19th century structure near Bayou Rapides.<ref>Obituary of James C. Harris, ''Alexandria Town Talk'', February 27, 2009.</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Eric W.}}
[[Category:Louisiana People]]
[[Category:Business People]]
[[Category:United States Army]]
[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:United Methodists]]