Robert Huel Harris
Decatur legal icon Bob Harris dead at 82
By Ronnie Thomas
Decatur attorney Bob Harris didn't just know the law.
He also knew the Bible, politics and finances, Lloyd Nix said Thursday after his longtime friend's death.
"He was one of the most knowledgeable and smartest guys that I knew, and he was even a good cook," said Nix, a retired dentist and quarterback of the 1957 Auburn national championship football team.
Robert H. "Bob" Harris, senior partner in Harris, Caddell and Shanks law firm and an icon in the Decatur legal community, died Thursday morning at Decatur General Hospital. He was 82 and had been battling cancer.
Harris was a former two-term state senator and Auburn University trustee. He helped revise the Code of Alabama in the 1970s and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1978.
Nix said anytime he had a question, he could get an answer from Harris. The two met in 1965 after Nix moved to Decatur.
"He really could analyze a problem that you might have in anything," Nix said. "He even analyzed my golf swing, and sometimes I didn't like that."
The funeral for Harris will be 3 p.m. Sunday at First United Methodist Church in Decatur. Visitation will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the church.
He is survived by his wife, Betty Sue Harris, three daughters, two sons, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Harris began practicing law in Decatur in 1957, after his discharge from the U.S. Army as a captain. A native of Goodwater in central Alabama, he earned his undergraduate degree from Auburn in 1951 and his law degree from the University of Alabama in 1954.
Harris honed his cooking skills while on group hunting and fishing trips to Alaska, South Dakota and Canada, Nix said.
"He would do our cooking everywhere we went," Nix said. "I don't know whether he liked cooking better than grocery shopping. He grocery shopped for our trips."
Tom Caddell was a UA law student working as a summer clerk at the firm when he met Harris in 1957. Caddell began full time at the firm in 1961.
"I worked with Bob until three weeks ago, when he went into treatment," Caddell said. "He handed me one of his cases as he left, and I'm handling it for him."
Harris was a trial lawyer, Caddell said, but his emphasis later was on public law, utilities and school law.
"If he didn't think much of somebody, speaking of someone he didn't particularly like, he would say, ‘There's a lot less to that person than meets the eye,' " Caddell said.
Caddell recalled that when Harris ran for the state Senate in 1966, he didn't think women should vote.
"When he met during a forum with the League of Women voters, one of the members asked, ‘Is it true you do not think women should be allowed to vote?' He said, ‘Yes.' He was always a conservative, and the point is, he would speak his mind.
"What you saw is what you got."
Harris went on to serve two terms. He was named Outstanding Freshman Senator in 1967 and the Hardest Working Senator in 1969 and again in 1973. He was selected the Most Outstanding Senator in 1971.
"Statewide, he was highly respected, and his high point after he got out of office was being appointed as chairman of the committee that revised the Code of Alabama, 1975, for the first time since 1940," Caddell said. "They had to take out any discriminatory language as to men and women's rights. He implemented all the Code as being gender neutral."
Caddell said Harris was such a good lawyer, his regular clients "stuck with him. It is no doubt going to be hard for them to find a new lawyer who can do their work as well as Bob did."
U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, said he had the privilege of serving "as a very young man" in the Alabama Senate with Harris.
"He was a unique individual, a very highly intelligent man, outstanding lawyer and a great state senator," Shelby said. "We've been friends for more than 40 years. He was someone I had a lot of respect for professionally and personally."
Shelby said Harris cared about Auburn University, where he served "as an outstanding trustee. And he cared about the state of Alabama, his family and the community, especially Decatur."
Harris served as a member of the Auburn University Board of Trustees from 1972-82.
Former Decatur mayor Lynn Fowler met Harris in the mid-1960s.
"He was one of the four of us who started First American Bank, along with Bud Orr and John Moores," Fowler said. "He was one of the most brilliant people I've ever known, and who had the driest humor."
Published in The Decatur Daily on August 3, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert Huel Harris
Loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and devoted friend.
Mr. Harris, 82, of Decatur passed away August 2, 2012 at Decatur General Hospital. Mr. Harris was born July 9, 1930 in Columbus, Georgia to Eugene Griffin Harris and Mary E. Thompson Harris. Mr. Harris was raised in Goodwater, Alabama. Mr. Harris was a 1951 graduate of Auburn University with a BS Degree, a 1954 graduate of the University of Alabama with a LL.B. Degree where he was on the Dean's List, First in his Class, Law Review, Farrah Order of Jurisprudence and Order of Coif, Admitted to Alabama Bar, 1954. He was a 1955 Graduate of University of Virginia Judge Advocate General School. He served three years in the United States Army 1954 until being discharged as a Captain in 1957. Mr. Harris has been a member of the First United Methodist Church since 1957 and has been teaching The Men's Bible Class since 1962. Founding Director of First American Bank. Member of Alabama State Senate from 1966 until 1974. Served on Auburn University Board of Trustees from 1972 until 1982. Practiced law in Decatur, Alabama since 1957 where he was a partner with the firm of Harris, Caddell & Shanks, PC.
Mr. Harris is preceded in death by his parents and a grandson Barnes F. Lovelace III. Survivors include his wife Betty Sue Harris, his children, Laurie Norman (James), Amanda Harris Lovelace, Bobbie Skelton( Keith), Robert Huel Harris, Jr. (Debra) and Parks Harris (Elizabeth). Grandchildren, Caroline Harper (Steve) , Robert Norman, Wiley Lovelace, Emily Carrere(Park), Anna Oletti(AJ) and Webb Harris. Great Grandchildren – Mary Emma Harper and Reed Oletti. Brother Eugene Griffin Harris, Jr. (Betty), Nephews Griff Harris (Candy) and Craig Harris (Barbara).
Funeral service will be Sunday, August 5, 2012 at 3:00 pm at The First United Methodist Church with Dr. Rudy Guess and Reverend Sandra Locke Godbey officiating. There will be a visitation from 1:30pm until 3:00pm in the Fellowship Hall at the church. Burial will follow at Decatur City Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Dr. Lloyd Nix, Charles Murphee, Dr. Malcolm Pruitt, McDowell Lee, Sid McDonald, Hon. Bo Torbert, Tom Caddell, Gary Phillips, Jeff Brown, Johnnie Washburn and Senator Arthur Orr.
Honorary pallbearers will be, The Decatur Golf Group, Wednesday Night Crowd, Founding Directors of First American Bank and Harris Lend-A- Hand Sunday School Class.
In lieu of flowers the family suggest memorials to The First United Methodist Church.
Published in the Decatur Daily on August 4, 2012
Decatur legal icon Bob Harris dead at 82
By Ronnie Thomas
Decatur attorney Bob Harris didn't just know the law.
He also knew the Bible, politics and finances, Lloyd Nix said Thursday after his longtime friend's death.
"He was one of the most knowledgeable and smartest guys that I knew, and he was even a good cook," said Nix, a retired dentist and quarterback of the 1957 Auburn national championship football team.
Robert H. "Bob" Harris, senior partner in Harris, Caddell and Shanks law firm and an icon in the Decatur legal community, died Thursday morning at Decatur General Hospital. He was 82 and had been battling cancer.
Harris was a former two-term state senator and Auburn University trustee. He helped revise the Code of Alabama in the 1970s and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1978.
Nix said anytime he had a question, he could get an answer from Harris. The two met in 1965 after Nix moved to Decatur.
"He really could analyze a problem that you might have in anything," Nix said. "He even analyzed my golf swing, and sometimes I didn't like that."
The funeral for Harris will be 3 p.m. Sunday at First United Methodist Church in Decatur. Visitation will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the church.
He is survived by his wife, Betty Sue Harris, three daughters, two sons, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Harris began practicing law in Decatur in 1957, after his discharge from the U.S. Army as a captain. A native of Goodwater in central Alabama, he earned his undergraduate degree from Auburn in 1951 and his law degree from the University of Alabama in 1954.
Harris honed his cooking skills while on group hunting and fishing trips to Alaska, South Dakota and Canada, Nix said.
"He would do our cooking everywhere we went," Nix said. "I don't know whether he liked cooking better than grocery shopping. He grocery shopped for our trips."
Tom Caddell was a UA law student working as a summer clerk at the firm when he met Harris in 1957. Caddell began full time at the firm in 1961.
"I worked with Bob until three weeks ago, when he went into treatment," Caddell said. "He handed me one of his cases as he left, and I'm handling it for him."
Harris was a trial lawyer, Caddell said, but his emphasis later was on public law, utilities and school law.
"If he didn't think much of somebody, speaking of someone he didn't particularly like, he would say, ‘There's a lot less to that person than meets the eye,' " Caddell said.
Caddell recalled that when Harris ran for the state Senate in 1966, he didn't think women should vote.
"When he met during a forum with the League of Women voters, one of the members asked, ‘Is it true you do not think women should be allowed to vote?' He said, ‘Yes.' He was always a conservative, and the point is, he would speak his mind.
"What you saw is what you got."
Harris went on to serve two terms. He was named Outstanding Freshman Senator in 1967 and the Hardest Working Senator in 1969 and again in 1973. He was selected the Most Outstanding Senator in 1971.
"Statewide, he was highly respected, and his high point after he got out of office was being appointed as chairman of the committee that revised the Code of Alabama, 1975, for the first time since 1940," Caddell said. "They had to take out any discriminatory language as to men and women's rights. He implemented all the Code as being gender neutral."
Caddell said Harris was such a good lawyer, his regular clients "stuck with him. It is no doubt going to be hard for them to find a new lawyer who can do their work as well as Bob did."
U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, said he had the privilege of serving "as a very young man" in the Alabama Senate with Harris.
"He was a unique individual, a very highly intelligent man, outstanding lawyer and a great state senator," Shelby said. "We've been friends for more than 40 years. He was someone I had a lot of respect for professionally and personally."
Shelby said Harris cared about Auburn University, where he served "as an outstanding trustee. And he cared about the state of Alabama, his family and the community, especially Decatur."
Harris served as a member of the Auburn University Board of Trustees from 1972-82.
Former Decatur mayor Lynn Fowler met Harris in the mid-1960s.
"He was one of the four of us who started First American Bank, along with Bud Orr and John Moores," Fowler said. "He was one of the most brilliant people I've ever known, and who had the driest humor."
Published in The Decatur Daily on August 3, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert Huel Harris
Loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and devoted friend.
Mr. Harris, 82, of Decatur passed away August 2, 2012 at Decatur General Hospital. Mr. Harris was born July 9, 1930 in Columbus, Georgia to Eugene Griffin Harris and Mary E. Thompson Harris. Mr. Harris was raised in Goodwater, Alabama. Mr. Harris was a 1951 graduate of Auburn University with a BS Degree, a 1954 graduate of the University of Alabama with a LL.B. Degree where he was on the Dean's List, First in his Class, Law Review, Farrah Order of Jurisprudence and Order of Coif, Admitted to Alabama Bar, 1954. He was a 1955 Graduate of University of Virginia Judge Advocate General School. He served three years in the United States Army 1954 until being discharged as a Captain in 1957. Mr. Harris has been a member of the First United Methodist Church since 1957 and has been teaching The Men's Bible Class since 1962. Founding Director of First American Bank. Member of Alabama State Senate from 1966 until 1974. Served on Auburn University Board of Trustees from 1972 until 1982. Practiced law in Decatur, Alabama since 1957 where he was a partner with the firm of Harris, Caddell & Shanks, PC.
Mr. Harris is preceded in death by his parents and a grandson Barnes F. Lovelace III. Survivors include his wife Betty Sue Harris, his children, Laurie Norman (James), Amanda Harris Lovelace, Bobbie Skelton( Keith), Robert Huel Harris, Jr. (Debra) and Parks Harris (Elizabeth). Grandchildren, Caroline Harper (Steve) , Robert Norman, Wiley Lovelace, Emily Carrere(Park), Anna Oletti(AJ) and Webb Harris. Great Grandchildren – Mary Emma Harper and Reed Oletti. Brother Eugene Griffin Harris, Jr. (Betty), Nephews Griff Harris (Candy) and Craig Harris (Barbara).
Funeral service will be Sunday, August 5, 2012 at 3:00 pm at The First United Methodist Church with Dr. Rudy Guess and Reverend Sandra Locke Godbey officiating. There will be a visitation from 1:30pm until 3:00pm in the Fellowship Hall at the church. Burial will follow at Decatur City Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Dr. Lloyd Nix, Charles Murphee, Dr. Malcolm Pruitt, McDowell Lee, Sid McDonald, Hon. Bo Torbert, Tom Caddell, Gary Phillips, Jeff Brown, Johnnie Washburn and Senator Arthur Orr.
Honorary pallbearers will be, The Decatur Golf Group, Wednesday Night Crowd, Founding Directors of First American Bank and Harris Lend-A- Hand Sunday School Class.
In lieu of flowers the family suggest memorials to The First United Methodist Church.
Published in the Decatur Daily on August 4, 2012
Robert Huel Harris
Decatur legal icon Bob Harris dead at 82
By Ronnie Thomas
Decatur attorney Bob Harris didn't just know the law.
He also knew the Bible, politics and finances, Lloyd Nix said Thursday after his longtime friend's death.
"He was one of the most knowledgeable and smartest guys that I knew, and he was even a good cook," said Nix, a retired dentist and quarterback of the 1957 Auburn national championship football team.
Robert H. "Bob" Harris, senior partner in Harris, Caddell and Shanks law firm and an icon in the Decatur legal community, died Thursday morning at Decatur General Hospital. He was 82 and had been battling cancer.
Harris was a former two-term state senator and Auburn University trustee. He helped revise the Code of Alabama in the 1970s and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1978.
Nix said anytime he had a question, he could get an answer from Harris. The two met in 1965 after Nix moved to Decatur.
"He really could analyze a problem that you might have in anything," Nix said. "He even analyzed my golf swing, and sometimes I didn't like that."
The funeral for Harris will be 3 p.m. Sunday at First United Methodist Church in Decatur. Visitation will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the church.
He is survived by his wife, Betty Sue Harris, three daughters, two sons, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Harris began practicing law in Decatur in 1957, after his discharge from the U.S. Army as a captain. A native of Goodwater in central Alabama, he earned his undergraduate degree from Auburn in 1951 and his law degree from the University of Alabama in 1954.
Harris honed his cooking skills while on group hunting and fishing trips to Alaska, South Dakota and Canada, Nix said.
"He would do our cooking everywhere we went," Nix said. "I don't know whether he liked cooking better than grocery shopping. He grocery shopped for our trips."
Tom Caddell was a UA law student working as a summer clerk at the firm when he met Harris in 1957. Caddell began full time at the firm in 1961.
"I worked with Bob until three weeks ago, when he went into treatment," Caddell said. "He handed me one of his cases as he left, and I'm handling it for him."
Harris was a trial lawyer, Caddell said, but his emphasis later was on public law, utilities and school law.
"If he didn't think much of somebody, speaking of someone he didn't particularly like, he would say, ‘There's a lot less to that person than meets the eye,' " Caddell said.
Caddell recalled that when Harris ran for the state Senate in 1966, he didn't think women should vote.
"When he met during a forum with the League of Women voters, one of the members asked, ‘Is it true you do not think women should be allowed to vote?' He said, ‘Yes.' He was always a conservative, and the point is, he would speak his mind.
"What you saw is what you got."
Harris went on to serve two terms. He was named Outstanding Freshman Senator in 1967 and the Hardest Working Senator in 1969 and again in 1973. He was selected the Most Outstanding Senator in 1971.
"Statewide, he was highly respected, and his high point after he got out of office was being appointed as chairman of the committee that revised the Code of Alabama, 1975, for the first time since 1940," Caddell said. "They had to take out any discriminatory language as to men and women's rights. He implemented all the Code as being gender neutral."
Caddell said Harris was such a good lawyer, his regular clients "stuck with him. It is no doubt going to be hard for them to find a new lawyer who can do their work as well as Bob did."
U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, said he had the privilege of serving "as a very young man" in the Alabama Senate with Harris.
"He was a unique individual, a very highly intelligent man, outstanding lawyer and a great state senator," Shelby said. "We've been friends for more than 40 years. He was someone I had a lot of respect for professionally and personally."
Shelby said Harris cared about Auburn University, where he served "as an outstanding trustee. And he cared about the state of Alabama, his family and the community, especially Decatur."
Harris served as a member of the Auburn University Board of Trustees from 1972-82.
Former Decatur mayor Lynn Fowler met Harris in the mid-1960s.
"He was one of the four of us who started First American Bank, along with Bud Orr and John Moores," Fowler said. "He was one of the most brilliant people I've ever known, and who had the driest humor."
Published in The Decatur Daily on August 3, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert Huel Harris
Loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and devoted friend.
Mr. Harris, 82, of Decatur passed away August 2, 2012 at Decatur General Hospital. Mr. Harris was born July 9, 1930 in Columbus, Georgia to Eugene Griffin Harris and Mary E. Thompson Harris. Mr. Harris was raised in Goodwater, Alabama. Mr. Harris was a 1951 graduate of Auburn University with a BS Degree, a 1954 graduate of the University of Alabama with a LL.B. Degree where he was on the Dean's List, First in his Class, Law Review, Farrah Order of Jurisprudence and Order of Coif, Admitted to Alabama Bar, 1954. He was a 1955 Graduate of University of Virginia Judge Advocate General School. He served three years in the United States Army 1954 until being discharged as a Captain in 1957. Mr. Harris has been a member of the First United Methodist Church since 1957 and has been teaching The Men's Bible Class since 1962. Founding Director of First American Bank. Member of Alabama State Senate from 1966 until 1974. Served on Auburn University Board of Trustees from 1972 until 1982. Practiced law in Decatur, Alabama since 1957 where he was a partner with the firm of Harris, Caddell & Shanks, PC.
Mr. Harris is preceded in death by his parents and a grandson Barnes F. Lovelace III. Survivors include his wife Betty Sue Harris, his children, Laurie Norman (James), Amanda Harris Lovelace, Bobbie Skelton( Keith), Robert Huel Harris, Jr. (Debra) and Parks Harris (Elizabeth). Grandchildren, Caroline Harper (Steve) , Robert Norman, Wiley Lovelace, Emily Carrere(Park), Anna Oletti(AJ) and Webb Harris. Great Grandchildren – Mary Emma Harper and Reed Oletti. Brother Eugene Griffin Harris, Jr. (Betty), Nephews Griff Harris (Candy) and Craig Harris (Barbara).
Funeral service will be Sunday, August 5, 2012 at 3:00 pm at The First United Methodist Church with Dr. Rudy Guess and Reverend Sandra Locke Godbey officiating. There will be a visitation from 1:30pm until 3:00pm in the Fellowship Hall at the church. Burial will follow at Decatur City Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Dr. Lloyd Nix, Charles Murphee, Dr. Malcolm Pruitt, McDowell Lee, Sid McDonald, Hon. Bo Torbert, Tom Caddell, Gary Phillips, Jeff Brown, Johnnie Washburn and Senator Arthur Orr.
Honorary pallbearers will be, The Decatur Golf Group, Wednesday Night Crowd, Founding Directors of First American Bank and Harris Lend-A- Hand Sunday School Class.
In lieu of flowers the family suggest memorials to The First United Methodist Church.
Published in the Decatur Daily on August 4, 2012
Decatur legal icon Bob Harris dead at 82
By Ronnie Thomas
Decatur attorney Bob Harris didn't just know the law.
He also knew the Bible, politics and finances, Lloyd Nix said Thursday after his longtime friend's death.
"He was one of the most knowledgeable and smartest guys that I knew, and he was even a good cook," said Nix, a retired dentist and quarterback of the 1957 Auburn national championship football team.
Robert H. "Bob" Harris, senior partner in Harris, Caddell and Shanks law firm and an icon in the Decatur legal community, died Thursday morning at Decatur General Hospital. He was 82 and had been battling cancer.
Harris was a former two-term state senator and Auburn University trustee. He helped revise the Code of Alabama in the 1970s and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1978.
Nix said anytime he had a question, he could get an answer from Harris. The two met in 1965 after Nix moved to Decatur.
"He really could analyze a problem that you might have in anything," Nix said. "He even analyzed my golf swing, and sometimes I didn't like that."
The funeral for Harris will be 3 p.m. Sunday at First United Methodist Church in Decatur. Visitation will begin at 1:30 p.m. at the church.
He is survived by his wife, Betty Sue Harris, three daughters, two sons, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Harris began practicing law in Decatur in 1957, after his discharge from the U.S. Army as a captain. A native of Goodwater in central Alabama, he earned his undergraduate degree from Auburn in 1951 and his law degree from the University of Alabama in 1954.
Harris honed his cooking skills while on group hunting and fishing trips to Alaska, South Dakota and Canada, Nix said.
"He would do our cooking everywhere we went," Nix said. "I don't know whether he liked cooking better than grocery shopping. He grocery shopped for our trips."
Tom Caddell was a UA law student working as a summer clerk at the firm when he met Harris in 1957. Caddell began full time at the firm in 1961.
"I worked with Bob until three weeks ago, when he went into treatment," Caddell said. "He handed me one of his cases as he left, and I'm handling it for him."
Harris was a trial lawyer, Caddell said, but his emphasis later was on public law, utilities and school law.
"If he didn't think much of somebody, speaking of someone he didn't particularly like, he would say, ‘There's a lot less to that person than meets the eye,' " Caddell said.
Caddell recalled that when Harris ran for the state Senate in 1966, he didn't think women should vote.
"When he met during a forum with the League of Women voters, one of the members asked, ‘Is it true you do not think women should be allowed to vote?' He said, ‘Yes.' He was always a conservative, and the point is, he would speak his mind.
"What you saw is what you got."
Harris went on to serve two terms. He was named Outstanding Freshman Senator in 1967 and the Hardest Working Senator in 1969 and again in 1973. He was selected the Most Outstanding Senator in 1971.
"Statewide, he was highly respected, and his high point after he got out of office was being appointed as chairman of the committee that revised the Code of Alabama, 1975, for the first time since 1940," Caddell said. "They had to take out any discriminatory language as to men and women's rights. He implemented all the Code as being gender neutral."
Caddell said Harris was such a good lawyer, his regular clients "stuck with him. It is no doubt going to be hard for them to find a new lawyer who can do their work as well as Bob did."
U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, said he had the privilege of serving "as a very young man" in the Alabama Senate with Harris.
"He was a unique individual, a very highly intelligent man, outstanding lawyer and a great state senator," Shelby said. "We've been friends for more than 40 years. He was someone I had a lot of respect for professionally and personally."
Shelby said Harris cared about Auburn University, where he served "as an outstanding trustee. And he cared about the state of Alabama, his family and the community, especially Decatur."
Harris served as a member of the Auburn University Board of Trustees from 1972-82.
Former Decatur mayor Lynn Fowler met Harris in the mid-1960s.
"He was one of the four of us who started First American Bank, along with Bud Orr and John Moores," Fowler said. "He was one of the most brilliant people I've ever known, and who had the driest humor."
Published in The Decatur Daily on August 3, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robert Huel Harris
Loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and devoted friend.
Mr. Harris, 82, of Decatur passed away August 2, 2012 at Decatur General Hospital. Mr. Harris was born July 9, 1930 in Columbus, Georgia to Eugene Griffin Harris and Mary E. Thompson Harris. Mr. Harris was raised in Goodwater, Alabama. Mr. Harris was a 1951 graduate of Auburn University with a BS Degree, a 1954 graduate of the University of Alabama with a LL.B. Degree where he was on the Dean's List, First in his Class, Law Review, Farrah Order of Jurisprudence and Order of Coif, Admitted to Alabama Bar, 1954. He was a 1955 Graduate of University of Virginia Judge Advocate General School. He served three years in the United States Army 1954 until being discharged as a Captain in 1957. Mr. Harris has been a member of the First United Methodist Church since 1957 and has been teaching The Men's Bible Class since 1962. Founding Director of First American Bank. Member of Alabama State Senate from 1966 until 1974. Served on Auburn University Board of Trustees from 1972 until 1982. Practiced law in Decatur, Alabama since 1957 where he was a partner with the firm of Harris, Caddell & Shanks, PC.
Mr. Harris is preceded in death by his parents and a grandson Barnes F. Lovelace III. Survivors include his wife Betty Sue Harris, his children, Laurie Norman (James), Amanda Harris Lovelace, Bobbie Skelton( Keith), Robert Huel Harris, Jr. (Debra) and Parks Harris (Elizabeth). Grandchildren, Caroline Harper (Steve) , Robert Norman, Wiley Lovelace, Emily Carrere(Park), Anna Oletti(AJ) and Webb Harris. Great Grandchildren – Mary Emma Harper and Reed Oletti. Brother Eugene Griffin Harris, Jr. (Betty), Nephews Griff Harris (Candy) and Craig Harris (Barbara).
Funeral service will be Sunday, August 5, 2012 at 3:00 pm at The First United Methodist Church with Dr. Rudy Guess and Reverend Sandra Locke Godbey officiating. There will be a visitation from 1:30pm until 3:00pm in the Fellowship Hall at the church. Burial will follow at Decatur City Cemetery.
Pallbearers will be Dr. Lloyd Nix, Charles Murphee, Dr. Malcolm Pruitt, McDowell Lee, Sid McDonald, Hon. Bo Torbert, Tom Caddell, Gary Phillips, Jeff Brown, Johnnie Washburn and Senator Arthur Orr.
Honorary pallbearers will be, The Decatur Golf Group, Wednesday Night Crowd, Founding Directors of First American Bank and Harris Lend-A- Hand Sunday School Class.
In lieu of flowers the family suggest memorials to The First United Methodist Church.
Published in the Decatur Daily on August 4, 2012
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