William “Bill” Harris

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Mass of Christian Burial for William “Bill” Truitt Harris, 90, Lawrence will be held at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, December 6, 2016 at Corpus Christi Catholic Church. Burial will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday at Leavenworth National Cemetery in Leavenworth, KS. Bill passed away Wednesday, November 30, 2016 at Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

William was born September 1, 1926 in Monte Vista, CO, the son of Edward Calvin and Helen Cecilia (Weaver) Harris.

Bill grew up in Colorado and worked along his older brother and dad at various jobs. In 1944 he joined the United States Marine Corp. in Denver, CO. Boot camp was in San Diego and he then served in the invasions of Saipan, Tinian, and Okinawa and the occupation of Japan for nine months after WWII ended. In 1946 he was discharged from the Marine Corp. He entered the GI program and became a skilled sheet metal worker. In 1958 he moved to Lawrence and used his heating and air conditioning skills for the new Daisy Hill Dormitories at the University of Kansas. He was a superintendent and an estimator of the heating and air conditioning division at Huxtable & Associates in Lawrence.

He was a life member of the American Legion Dorsey Liberty Post #14, Veterans of Foreign Wars Alford Clarke Post 852 and Disabled American Veterans. He was a member of Corpus Christi Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. He was also a member of the Sheet Metal Worker’s International Association. He was a scoutmaster in the early 1960’s. He enjoyed carpentry work and had a green thumb.

Bill married Virginia L. Hoff on October 24, 1946 at St. Patrick’s Church in La Junta, CO. She survives of the home. William and Virginia celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary this year.

Other survivors include his children, Thomas “Tom” Harris, Lawrence, Terry Harris, Elizabeth, CO, Therese Seward, Overland Park, KS, Toni and Tom Neilon, Olathe, Tammy and Earl Reineman, Lawrence, Trina and Steve Burzinski, Piedmont, OK, Trudi and Michael “Eddie” Aikins, Olathe; 16 loving grandchildren; and 14 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his son, Sgt. Timothy Harris in 1986.

A rosary will be recited at 6:00 p.m. with a visitation to follow until 8:00 p.m. on Monday, December 5th at Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence.

Memorials may be made in his name to the Alzheimer’s Association and may be sent in care of the Warren-McElwain Mortuary.

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