Victor Wallace Harrison departed this life Thursday April 5 at his residence in Las Cruces. The family will receive friends from 9-10 a.m. Wednesday April 11 at Bright Funeral Home with funeral services following at 10 a.m. also at Bright Funeral Home. Interment will be in Memory Lane Cemetery. Mr. Harrison was born May 23, 1913 to Theodore Edward Harrison and Leoria Alkire Harrison on the family ranch near Wheeler, Texas. The family moved to a ranch near Spur Lake, N.M. when he was 18. Their first winter at Spur Lake there was so much snow that they were unable to get to town for four months. Along with his brother Charlie and a friend he formed a band and played for dances in Spur Lake and other communities in the area as well as benefits to raise money for the local school. On June 6, 1942 he and Janet Stewart were married in Eager, Ariz. The newlyweds moved to the Silver City area and two months later he was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II. He served in the 447th anti-aircraft artiliery battalion of the 28th "Bloody Bucker" or "keystone" infantry division. The battalion provided mobile anti-aircraft support for infantry, convoys and depots during the liberation of Europe and spent 196 days in combat including the landing at Omaha Beach during Normandy invasion and the Battle of the Bulge. He participated in the liberation of Paris and was among the first American troops to enter the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau where at least 60,000 prisoners had been killed. He sailed back to America on the Queen Mary and said the Statue of Liberty on New York harbor was the most beautiful sight he ever seen. Following the end of the war he resumed his job in the mine quality control at Kennecott Copper Corp. from which he retired in 1975 after 35 years of service. In 1952 he built a new home for the family in Silver City and later used his talents as a builder to construct a swimming pool for his children. He was an avid and accomplished organic gardener. After sharing fruit and vegetables with family and friends, there was often so much left that he was able to supply the Gospel Mission with fresh produce throughout the season. He was a rock hound, lapidarist and inventor often fabricating special tools for his work. He had a playful sense of humor that never failed him even in the last hour of his life. He was preceded in death by his parents, brother, two sisters and many friends. Mr. Harrison is survived by his wife Janet; daughters Carolyn "Vicky" Shaw and her husband Jeff and Linda Ross and her husband Sam all of Las Cruces and Patricia Erickson and her husband Mark of Silver City; grandchildren Krista Leigh Ross and Justin Garrett Ross and nephews, nieces, and caregivers. Pallbearers for Mr. Harrison will be his three son-in-law Jeff Shaw, Sam Ross and Mark Erickson; nephew Harold Stewart and friend Robert Scullion. Bright Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.