Obituary: 'Much-loved' Harrogate man who received CBE for a lifetime of service and achievement
Tributes have been paid after the passing of a hugely respected Harrogate man who gave so much to the town's life and its civic and charity groups and was honoured by The Queen.
In a lifetime of commitment, John Harris CBE DL MA LLM FRSA covered the gamut of civic and public responsibilities, including the Royal Hall Restoration Trust, Harrogate and District City of Sanctuary, Harrogate Theatre, Harrogate Homeless Project; U3a, Harrogate and Knaresborough Labour Party and the West Park Centre.
Following his death on August 27, his family said they were “heartbroken to have lost our wonderful husband, father, grandfather”.
In a message signed by his wife Alison, children Sue and Ed, grandchildren Sam, Ava and Vivi and daughter-in-law Alyson, the family said they would be holding a memorial meeting on Saturday, October 17 to which anyone who knew him would be very welcome to attend.
Pro European, Mr Harris’s life spanned political commitment, internationallism, local government, law, business, charity and community support.
In the 1980s he was chief executive of South Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council.
He was also a Deputy Lieutenant of South Yorkshire, a member of the Guild of Freeman of the City of London, a solicitor, local government officer and an international management and legal consultant.
Born in London on April 24, 1936, the third and youngest child and only son of Sir Charles Harris KBE and Lady Harris (Emily née Thompson), John Harris had two older sisters Joan and Audrey.
He won a place at Dulwich College through the Direct Grant Scheme graduating with 8 O-levels and 3 A levels in 1954.
A chance conversation between his father and a colleague in Downing Street led to John going up to Cambridge to sit the entrance exam for Clare.
He sat French and German papers but, on his own admission, had no real aptitude for languages and felt he had done terribly badly.
However, he also sat a general paper and excelled.
Before going up to Cambridge he spent two years doing his National Service in the Intelligence Corp as a 2nd Lieutenant (a year after Alan Bennett) where he attempted to learn Russian.
One of the societies he joined at Clare, where he switched from History to Law, was the United Nations Association (UNA) where he met an effervescent Girton student called Alison Sturley who was studying History.
On a 1958 UNA trip to Paris to visit Nato, he invited her out to the theatre.
A lifetime of shared interests in history, the arts, opera, books, politics and travel was born.
Upon graduating, the couple moved to Poole, Dorset, where John took a job at The Atomic Energy Authority, Winfrith where he worked for the 12 nation OECD Dragon Project.
John and Alison married on April 1, 1961 at Norton near Evesham where Alison had been brought up).
Before his passing, they had recently celebrated 65 years of marriage.
The next 50 years saw a lengthy list of achievement in a wide range of fields at a high level, both in John Harris’s career and outside his working life.
Just a few of the notable posts John Harris held include Chairman of the Coal Authority, Chair of the Northern Counties Housing Association, Director of the South Africa Housing Network Trust Limited and Chair of Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust.
In 2004, he was awarded the CBE for services to the Coal Industry in the birthday honours
John moved permanently to Harrogate in 2014 when he and Alison sold the family home Long Lane Close in High Ackworth, West Yorkshire.
They had resided there for 40 years and had been only the second family to live in the house which had been built in the same year of his birth, 1936.
Characteristically, John threw himself into Harrogate life and joined a number of committees.
And he usually ended up being asked to be Chair.
He was involved in The Harrogate Theatre; The Royal Hall Restoration Trust; Harrogate Homeless Project; Harrogate and Knaresborough District of Sanctuary; U3a; The Labour Party; West Park Centre and his final project fittingly was the Harrogate Heritage and Community Development Project of which he was Foundation Trustee.
It is based at the United Reformed Church at West Park, where the memorial will take place.
He was very excited about the potential and future of this arts project.
John loved people, travel, opera, books, football and politics amongst other things – and not necessarily in that order.
He loved spending time with his family.
He was a passionate European with many friends across the Continent that he made socially and vocationally.
He never forgave Margaret Thatcher for the decimation of local government or for the miners’ strike.
He had a fascination with South Africa and was involved in development work including housing and local government infrastructure projects in that country.
He was passionate about the communities he lived in - most recently Harrogate.
He always said that being in Harrogate was like the wonderful years in Poole and Bournemouth and it was like being on holiday all the time.
There is no particular dress code for the forthcoming memorial at the United Reformed Church on Victoria Avenue, West Park, Harrogate.
But John loved bright colours, so the family thought that it would be appropriate to ask everyone attending to wear one of the colours from the South African flag.
Doors open 2.30pm, start time is 3pm and the memorial will end about 6.30pm but do arrive and leave when suits you.