Dr. Benjamin L. "Doc" Harris was born in Savannah, GA and moved to the Baltimore area with his parents as a child.
He received a bachelor's degree in gas engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1938 and earned his doctorate in Chemical Engineering in 1941 from that same university. He served as an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Hopkins early in his career.
He joined the Army as an officer in 1938 performing chemical research at Edgewood for five years during World War II. He remained in the Army as a reserve officer until 1977 when he retired with the rank of Colonel.
He spent most of his career in military research and development with the Army and published a number of classified reports and technical papers including those on adsorption of gases and liquids, kinetics, and colloidal chemistry.
He spent four years as the Deputy Assistant Director for Chemical Technology in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Dr. Harris returned to the Department of the Army and assumed the position of Technical Director of Edgewood Arsenal until he ultimately retired in 1981.
While studying at Hopkins he met Muriel Janet Diekmann who attended Strayer's Business College in the area. They married in 1942.
For 50 years the couple lived on a 6 acre farm in Glen Arm, MD, named "Pondsprings" after a small fish pond that Dr. Harris had constructed on the land. In addition to the farm house there were four outbuildings including a large barn where they quartered horses and other farm animals.
Dr. Harris was active in the Boy Scouts of America organization for 75 years. He was an Eagle Scout and the leader of four boy scout troops. He received several honorary awards for distinguished service to the Boy Scouts of America such as the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, the Silver Beaver, the Silver Antelope, and the Lamb Award from the youth ministry department of the Lutheran Church. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and served as Governor General of his SAR chapter.
Throughout his lifetime and especially in his retirement years Dr. Harris collected stamps, studied genealogy, and made jewelry out of semiprecious gemstones among his many and varied hobbies. His retirement permitted additional dedication to those hobbies as well as traveling extensively with his wife Janet.
In 2002 Ben and Janet Harris relocated from their Pondsprings farm to the nearby Glen Meadows retirement community.
Benjamin Harris died on 18 November 2006 of complications from Alzheimer's disease at the Glen Meadows retirement community in Glen Arm, MD.
His wife preceded him in death on 14 March 2006.
Their five children, a son and four daughters, have their own families and still reside in the Baltimore area.
He received a bachelor's degree in gas engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1938 and earned his doctorate in Chemical Engineering in 1941 from that same university. He served as an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Hopkins early in his career.
He joined the Army as an officer in 1938 performing chemical research at Edgewood for five years during World War II. He remained in the Army as a reserve officer until 1977 when he retired with the rank of Colonel.
He spent most of his career in military research and development with the Army and published a number of classified reports and technical papers including those on adsorption of gases and liquids, kinetics, and colloidal chemistry.
He spent four years as the Deputy Assistant Director for Chemical Technology in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Dr. Harris returned to the Department of the Army and assumed the position of Technical Director of Edgewood Arsenal until he ultimately retired in 1981.
While studying at Hopkins he met Muriel Janet Diekmann who attended Strayer's Business College in the area. They married in 1942.
For 50 years the couple lived on a 6 acre farm in Glen Arm, MD, named "Pondsprings" after a small fish pond that Dr. Harris had constructed on the land. In addition to the farm house there were four outbuildings including a large barn where they quartered horses and other farm animals.
Dr. Harris was active in the Boy Scouts of America organization for 75 years. He was an Eagle Scout and the leader of four boy scout troops. He received several honorary awards for distinguished service to the Boy Scouts of America such as the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, the Silver Beaver, the Silver Antelope, and the Lamb Award from the youth ministry department of the Lutheran Church. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and served as Governor General of his SAR chapter.
Throughout his lifetime and especially in his retirement years Dr. Harris collected stamps, studied genealogy, and made jewelry out of semiprecious gemstones among his many and varied hobbies. His retirement permitted additional dedication to those hobbies as well as traveling extensively with his wife Janet.
In 2002 Ben and Janet Harris relocated from their Pondsprings farm to the nearby Glen Meadows retirement community.
Benjamin Harris died on 18 November 2006 of complications from Alzheimer's disease at the Glen Meadows retirement community in Glen Arm, MD.
His wife preceded him in death on 14 March 2006.
Their five children, a son and four daughters, have their own families and still reside in the Baltimore area.
Dr. Benjamin L. "Doc" Harris was born in Savannah, GA and moved to the Baltimore area with his parents as a child.
He received a bachelor's degree in gas engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1938 and earned his doctorate in Chemical Engineering in 1941 from that same university. He served as an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Hopkins early in his career.
He joined the Army as an officer in 1938 performing chemical research at Edgewood for five years during World War II. He remained in the Army as a reserve officer until 1977 when he retired with the rank of Colonel.
He spent most of his career in military research and development with the Army and published a number of classified reports and technical papers including those on adsorption of gases and liquids, kinetics, and colloidal chemistry.
He spent four years as the Deputy Assistant Director for Chemical Technology in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Dr. Harris returned to the Department of the Army and assumed the position of Technical Director of Edgewood Arsenal until he ultimately retired in 1981.
While studying at Hopkins he met Muriel Janet Diekmann who attended Strayer's Business College in the area. They married in 1942.
For 50 years the couple lived on a 6 acre farm in Glen Arm, MD, named "Pondsprings" after a small fish pond that Dr. Harris had constructed on the land. In addition to the farm house there were four outbuildings including a large barn where they quartered horses and other farm animals.
Dr. Harris was active in the Boy Scouts of America organization for 75 years. He was an Eagle Scout and the leader of four boy scout troops. He received several honorary awards for distinguished service to the Boy Scouts of America such as the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, the Silver Beaver, the Silver Antelope, and the Lamb Award from the youth ministry department of the Lutheran Church. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and served as Governor General of his SAR chapter.
Throughout his lifetime and especially in his retirement years Dr. Harris collected stamps, studied genealogy, and made jewelry out of semiprecious gemstones among his many and varied hobbies. His retirement permitted additional dedication to those hobbies as well as traveling extensively with his wife Janet.
In 2002 Ben and Janet Harris relocated from their Pondsprings farm to the nearby Glen Meadows retirement community.
Benjamin Harris died on 18 November 2006 of complications from Alzheimer's disease at the Glen Meadows retirement community in Glen Arm, MD.
His wife preceded him in death on 14 March 2006.
Their five children, a son and four daughters, have their own families and still reside in the Baltimore area.
He received a bachelor's degree in gas engineering from Johns Hopkins University in 1938 and earned his doctorate in Chemical Engineering in 1941 from that same university. He served as an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Hopkins early in his career.
He joined the Army as an officer in 1938 performing chemical research at Edgewood for five years during World War II. He remained in the Army as a reserve officer until 1977 when he retired with the rank of Colonel.
He spent most of his career in military research and development with the Army and published a number of classified reports and technical papers including those on adsorption of gases and liquids, kinetics, and colloidal chemistry.
He spent four years as the Deputy Assistant Director for Chemical Technology in the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD). Dr. Harris returned to the Department of the Army and assumed the position of Technical Director of Edgewood Arsenal until he ultimately retired in 1981.
While studying at Hopkins he met Muriel Janet Diekmann who attended Strayer's Business College in the area. They married in 1942.
For 50 years the couple lived on a 6 acre farm in Glen Arm, MD, named "Pondsprings" after a small fish pond that Dr. Harris had constructed on the land. In addition to the farm house there were four outbuildings including a large barn where they quartered horses and other farm animals.
Dr. Harris was active in the Boy Scouts of America organization for 75 years. He was an Eagle Scout and the leader of four boy scout troops. He received several honorary awards for distinguished service to the Boy Scouts of America such as the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award, the Silver Beaver, the Silver Antelope, and the Lamb Award from the youth ministry department of the Lutheran Church. He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and served as Governor General of his SAR chapter.
Throughout his lifetime and especially in his retirement years Dr. Harris collected stamps, studied genealogy, and made jewelry out of semiprecious gemstones among his many and varied hobbies. His retirement permitted additional dedication to those hobbies as well as traveling extensively with his wife Janet.
In 2002 Ben and Janet Harris relocated from their Pondsprings farm to the nearby Glen Meadows retirement community.
Benjamin Harris died on 18 November 2006 of complications from Alzheimer's disease at the Glen Meadows retirement community in Glen Arm, MD.
His wife preceded him in death on 14 March 2006.
Their five children, a son and four daughters, have their own families and still reside in the Baltimore area.
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