EDWIN HOUSTON HARRISON, 102, a longtime Los Alamos resident, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 3 at the home of his son Ron Harrison, in St. George, Utah.
The oldest of nine children, Edwin Harrison was born on Jan. 19, 1908, in Olustee, Oklahoma , to John Henry and Leila Bell Lamb Harrison. His father was a farmer and homesteader.
After graduating high school, Edwin attending college at Oklahoma A&M, where he studied business. He left school after one year to become a farmer.
Edwin married Verna Van Cleeve, his high school sweetheart, in 1928. A son, Jimmy Dean Harrison, was born in 1933 but died at birth. Three years later, in 1936, Verna gave birth to Eddie Van Harrison at the family home. Verna passed away suddenly two weeks later.
Not long after the death of his wife he started work in construction, primarily on roads throughout Oklahoma. The construction work took him to New Mexico in 1940.
It was in Gallup, where Edwin would meet his second wife, an 18-year-old waitress named Paula "Polly" . They married on Dec. 9 1941, two days after Pearl Harbor.
The couple moved around for the next several years nad Edwin worked on military bases in Roswell, Hobbs, Fort Sumner and Clinton, Okla. Polly gave birth to a son, Ronald Harrison, in 1943. On Thanksgiving Day in 1944 the family landed in Albuquerque, where Edwin found work rebuilding heavy machinery. That's when he heard about a job opportunity in the then-secret city of Los Alamos.
Edwin and his family arrived in Los Alamos in February of 1945, where they started out living in a $1,200 Schultz travel trailer with no bathroom and a gasoline stove. He was one of the first 11 civilians working in Los Alamos at the time, and he began working in Los Alamos at the time, and he began working in the Army transportation department as a mechanic for the first year before moving over to the Zia Company when it was formed as a support company for the lab in 1946. Polly gave birth to a daughter, Barbara, in January of that year.
The Zia Company hired Edwin as a supervisor working on the roads section. He stayed with the company until he retired as Superintendent of Roads, Labor and Mechanics in January 1973. He supervised the cutting of Diamond Drive past the First Baptist Church and the construction of Pajarito Road in the 1960s, two of his biggest projects.
Edwin retired in 1973. He and Polly moved to Albuquerque the following year and they used that as a "headquarters" while they vacationed around the country in a travel trailer. Edwin and Polly discovered Vallecito Lake in Southwestern Colorado in the late 1970s. They moved permanently to Vallecito Lake in 1986 and stayed there for the next 12 years until coming back to Los Alamos to be closer to their family in 1998.
Polly died suddenly in October of 2006. She was a wonderfully social person who loved the Lord Jesus and devoted much of her energy to spending time with and helping others. Polly, Barbara and Ron began organizing Edwin's 100th birthday celebration during the summer of 2006.
Barbara and Ron continued with the plans after Polly passed away. Approximately 100 people attended the party, including many out-of-town relatives, whih was held at Fuller Lodge on Jan. 19, 2008.
Edwin survived his five brothers and two of his sisters. He is survived by one sister, Johnnye Greenhood of California, his three children, Eddie V. Harrison, Barbara Milder and husband Marty, both of Los Alamos, and Ron Harrison and wife Judy, of St. George, Utah. He leaves seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 12 at the First Baptist Church of Los Alamos with burial to follow at Guaje Pines Cemetery in Los Alamos. Friends and family are invited to a reception at the church immediately after the burial service.
The family of Edwin H. Harrison has entrusted the care of their loved one to DeVargas Funeral Home & Crematory of the Espanola Valley, 552-2400, www.devargasfuneral.com.
The oldest of nine children, Edwin Harrison was born on Jan. 19, 1908, in Olustee, Oklahoma , to John Henry and Leila Bell Lamb Harrison. His father was a farmer and homesteader.
After graduating high school, Edwin attending college at Oklahoma A&M, where he studied business. He left school after one year to become a farmer.
Edwin married Verna Van Cleeve, his high school sweetheart, in 1928. A son, Jimmy Dean Harrison, was born in 1933 but died at birth. Three years later, in 1936, Verna gave birth to Eddie Van Harrison at the family home. Verna passed away suddenly two weeks later.
Not long after the death of his wife he started work in construction, primarily on roads throughout Oklahoma. The construction work took him to New Mexico in 1940.
It was in Gallup, where Edwin would meet his second wife, an 18-year-old waitress named Paula "Polly" . They married on Dec. 9 1941, two days after Pearl Harbor.
The couple moved around for the next several years nad Edwin worked on military bases in Roswell, Hobbs, Fort Sumner and Clinton, Okla. Polly gave birth to a son, Ronald Harrison, in 1943. On Thanksgiving Day in 1944 the family landed in Albuquerque, where Edwin found work rebuilding heavy machinery. That's when he heard about a job opportunity in the then-secret city of Los Alamos.
Edwin and his family arrived in Los Alamos in February of 1945, where they started out living in a $1,200 Schultz travel trailer with no bathroom and a gasoline stove. He was one of the first 11 civilians working in Los Alamos at the time, and he began working in Los Alamos at the time, and he began working in the Army transportation department as a mechanic for the first year before moving over to the Zia Company when it was formed as a support company for the lab in 1946. Polly gave birth to a daughter, Barbara, in January of that year.
The Zia Company hired Edwin as a supervisor working on the roads section. He stayed with the company until he retired as Superintendent of Roads, Labor and Mechanics in January 1973. He supervised the cutting of Diamond Drive past the First Baptist Church and the construction of Pajarito Road in the 1960s, two of his biggest projects.
Edwin retired in 1973. He and Polly moved to Albuquerque the following year and they used that as a "headquarters" while they vacationed around the country in a travel trailer. Edwin and Polly discovered Vallecito Lake in Southwestern Colorado in the late 1970s. They moved permanently to Vallecito Lake in 1986 and stayed there for the next 12 years until coming back to Los Alamos to be closer to their family in 1998.
Polly died suddenly in October of 2006. She was a wonderfully social person who loved the Lord Jesus and devoted much of her energy to spending time with and helping others. Polly, Barbara and Ron began organizing Edwin's 100th birthday celebration during the summer of 2006.
Barbara and Ron continued with the plans after Polly passed away. Approximately 100 people attended the party, including many out-of-town relatives, whih was held at Fuller Lodge on Jan. 19, 2008.
Edwin survived his five brothers and two of his sisters. He is survived by one sister, Johnnye Greenhood of California, his three children, Eddie V. Harrison, Barbara Milder and husband Marty, both of Los Alamos, and Ron Harrison and wife Judy, of St. George, Utah. He leaves seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 12 at the First Baptist Church of Los Alamos with burial to follow at Guaje Pines Cemetery in Los Alamos. Friends and family are invited to a reception at the church immediately after the burial service.
The family of Edwin H. Harrison has entrusted the care of their loved one to DeVargas Funeral Home & Crematory of the Espanola Valley, 552-2400, www.devargasfuneral.com.
EDWIN HOUSTON HARRISON, 102, a longtime Los Alamos resident, passed away Tuesday, Aug. 3 at the home of his son Ron Harrison, in St. George, Utah.
The oldest of nine children, Edwin Harrison was born on Jan. 19, 1908, in Olustee, Oklahoma , to John Henry and Leila Bell Lamb Harrison. His father was a farmer and homesteader.
After graduating high school, Edwin attending college at Oklahoma A&M, where he studied business. He left school after one year to become a farmer.
Edwin married Verna Van Cleeve, his high school sweetheart, in 1928. A son, Jimmy Dean Harrison, was born in 1933 but died at birth. Three years later, in 1936, Verna gave birth to Eddie Van Harrison at the family home. Verna passed away suddenly two weeks later.
Not long after the death of his wife he started work in construction, primarily on roads throughout Oklahoma. The construction work took him to New Mexico in 1940.
It was in Gallup, where Edwin would meet his second wife, an 18-year-old waitress named Paula "Polly" . They married on Dec. 9 1941, two days after Pearl Harbor.
The couple moved around for the next several years nad Edwin worked on military bases in Roswell, Hobbs, Fort Sumner and Clinton, Okla. Polly gave birth to a son, Ronald Harrison, in 1943. On Thanksgiving Day in 1944 the family landed in Albuquerque, where Edwin found work rebuilding heavy machinery. That's when he heard about a job opportunity in the then-secret city of Los Alamos.
Edwin and his family arrived in Los Alamos in February of 1945, where they started out living in a $1,200 Schultz travel trailer with no bathroom and a gasoline stove. He was one of the first 11 civilians working in Los Alamos at the time, and he began working in Los Alamos at the time, and he began working in the Army transportation department as a mechanic for the first year before moving over to the Zia Company when it was formed as a support company for the lab in 1946. Polly gave birth to a daughter, Barbara, in January of that year.
The Zia Company hired Edwin as a supervisor working on the roads section. He stayed with the company until he retired as Superintendent of Roads, Labor and Mechanics in January 1973. He supervised the cutting of Diamond Drive past the First Baptist Church and the construction of Pajarito Road in the 1960s, two of his biggest projects.
Edwin retired in 1973. He and Polly moved to Albuquerque the following year and they used that as a "headquarters" while they vacationed around the country in a travel trailer. Edwin and Polly discovered Vallecito Lake in Southwestern Colorado in the late 1970s. They moved permanently to Vallecito Lake in 1986 and stayed there for the next 12 years until coming back to Los Alamos to be closer to their family in 1998.
Polly died suddenly in October of 2006. She was a wonderfully social person who loved the Lord Jesus and devoted much of her energy to spending time with and helping others. Polly, Barbara and Ron began organizing Edwin's 100th birthday celebration during the summer of 2006.
Barbara and Ron continued with the plans after Polly passed away. Approximately 100 people attended the party, including many out-of-town relatives, whih was held at Fuller Lodge on Jan. 19, 2008.
Edwin survived his five brothers and two of his sisters. He is survived by one sister, Johnnye Greenhood of California, his three children, Eddie V. Harrison, Barbara Milder and husband Marty, both of Los Alamos, and Ron Harrison and wife Judy, of St. George, Utah. He leaves seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 12 at the First Baptist Church of Los Alamos with burial to follow at Guaje Pines Cemetery in Los Alamos. Friends and family are invited to a reception at the church immediately after the burial service.
The family of Edwin H. Harrison has entrusted the care of their loved one to DeVargas Funeral Home & Crematory of the Espanola Valley, 552-2400, www.devargasfuneral.com.
The oldest of nine children, Edwin Harrison was born on Jan. 19, 1908, in Olustee, Oklahoma , to John Henry and Leila Bell Lamb Harrison. His father was a farmer and homesteader.
After graduating high school, Edwin attending college at Oklahoma A&M, where he studied business. He left school after one year to become a farmer.
Edwin married Verna Van Cleeve, his high school sweetheart, in 1928. A son, Jimmy Dean Harrison, was born in 1933 but died at birth. Three years later, in 1936, Verna gave birth to Eddie Van Harrison at the family home. Verna passed away suddenly two weeks later.
Not long after the death of his wife he started work in construction, primarily on roads throughout Oklahoma. The construction work took him to New Mexico in 1940.
It was in Gallup, where Edwin would meet his second wife, an 18-year-old waitress named Paula "Polly" . They married on Dec. 9 1941, two days after Pearl Harbor.
The couple moved around for the next several years nad Edwin worked on military bases in Roswell, Hobbs, Fort Sumner and Clinton, Okla. Polly gave birth to a son, Ronald Harrison, in 1943. On Thanksgiving Day in 1944 the family landed in Albuquerque, where Edwin found work rebuilding heavy machinery. That's when he heard about a job opportunity in the then-secret city of Los Alamos.
Edwin and his family arrived in Los Alamos in February of 1945, where they started out living in a $1,200 Schultz travel trailer with no bathroom and a gasoline stove. He was one of the first 11 civilians working in Los Alamos at the time, and he began working in Los Alamos at the time, and he began working in the Army transportation department as a mechanic for the first year before moving over to the Zia Company when it was formed as a support company for the lab in 1946. Polly gave birth to a daughter, Barbara, in January of that year.
The Zia Company hired Edwin as a supervisor working on the roads section. He stayed with the company until he retired as Superintendent of Roads, Labor and Mechanics in January 1973. He supervised the cutting of Diamond Drive past the First Baptist Church and the construction of Pajarito Road in the 1960s, two of his biggest projects.
Edwin retired in 1973. He and Polly moved to Albuquerque the following year and they used that as a "headquarters" while they vacationed around the country in a travel trailer. Edwin and Polly discovered Vallecito Lake in Southwestern Colorado in the late 1970s. They moved permanently to Vallecito Lake in 1986 and stayed there for the next 12 years until coming back to Los Alamos to be closer to their family in 1998.
Polly died suddenly in October of 2006. She was a wonderfully social person who loved the Lord Jesus and devoted much of her energy to spending time with and helping others. Polly, Barbara and Ron began organizing Edwin's 100th birthday celebration during the summer of 2006.
Barbara and Ron continued with the plans after Polly passed away. Approximately 100 people attended the party, including many out-of-town relatives, whih was held at Fuller Lodge on Jan. 19, 2008.
Edwin survived his five brothers and two of his sisters. He is survived by one sister, Johnnye Greenhood of California, his three children, Eddie V. Harrison, Barbara Milder and husband Marty, both of Los Alamos, and Ron Harrison and wife Judy, of St. George, Utah. He leaves seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 12 at the First Baptist Church of Los Alamos with burial to follow at Guaje Pines Cemetery in Los Alamos. Friends and family are invited to a reception at the church immediately after the burial service.
The family of Edwin H. Harrison has entrusted the care of their loved one to DeVargas Funeral Home & Crematory of the Espanola Valley, 552-2400, www.devargasfuneral.com.
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