Dennis Harris

Biography

Dennis Martin Harris passed from this life to immortality on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 in Portland, Oregon, surrounded by loved ones. His passing was due to sepsis brought on by complications from rheumatoid arthritis.
He was born December 3, 1939, in Hawthorne, California, to John Martin and Rita Work-man Harris. Throughout the end of the Great Depression and the Second World War he was raised on a small farm in Lawndale, California where he learned to love the rural way of life. In 1952, his family moved to a new housing development, in Torrance, California, where he spent the remainder of his growing up years. After graduating from High School he attended El Camino Community College, where he served as president of the Inter-chapter group of the LDS Church’s sponsored sorority/fraternity, Lambda Delta Sigma – comprised of students from five different universities and colleges. He then joined the California National Guard. After his basic training he attended one year of college at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. At the completion of this year, he served a two and a half year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Southern Germany. Upon completion of his mission he again attended Brigham Young University, graduating in 1965 with a major in Social
Psychology, and minors in German, Political Science, and Geology. He then joined the LDS Church Education System as a Seminary Instructor at Bountiful High School in Utah. While teaching, he continued his education with graduate work in Religious
Education and Public Administration, earning a Master’s Degree in International
Administration.
He married Ruth Faragher in July of 1969 in the Salt Lake City LDS Temple. In 1970 they moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where he served as the Director of the
Institute of Religion for the LDS Church at the University of New Mexico, and later as Area Director of the Church Education System for much of the northern half of the state. In 1975, he moved his family to Mapleton, Utah where he pursued a Doctoral
degree in Education Administration and Linguistics, and served as an Instructor in the Religion Department of Brigham Young University.
In 1978 he was hired to establish a private company’s branch in Geneva, Switzerland but this prospect fell through and he went to work as a general manager of another
company owned by the same business group. This company was sold and he became the Vice President of Operations for the new company. He later worked as Plant Manager
and then as Vice President of Operations for two different gun safe manufacturers. In 1992, he became the Manager of Deseret Industries (an LDS Church run thrift store sim-ilar to Goodwill) in Preston, Idaho where he loved and mentored his employees, suc-ceeded in making the store one of the best in the system, and enjoyed to the
fullest, as he had in his youth, a rural lifestyle.
He retired in 2002 and moved in 2004 to King City, Oregon to be close to his eldest daughter and her family. While there, he served for seven years as Chairman of the Board for the Home Owners Association of the condominiums in which he and Ruth lived, and served as a general all-around handyman for several years. He truly loved his neighbors and the people he served.
A life-long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served in
numerous leadership and teaching positions. He also thoroughly enjoyed serving as an ordinance worker, with his wife Ruth, in the Portland, Oregon LDS Temple. He was a direct descendant of Martin Harris, one of the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon. He spent his life testifying that the witness borne by his great-great-grandfather was true. His conviction that the Gospel of Jesus Christ had been restored to the earth was absolute.
He leaves for a season his wife Ruth, his three daughters: Jennifer (Devin) Kidman of Tigard, Oregon; Laurie C. Harris Wirz of Centerville, Utah; Marianne (Randall) Harris of Kaysville, Utah; and eight grandchildren. He is also survived by his sister Linda (Den-nis) Flint, his brother John (Shellie) Harris, and his sister Marilyn Harris. He joyfully rejoins those who preceded him in death – his father John Harris, his mother Rita Harris and his sister Rita Jean Donaldson.
The family would like to thank Amedisys Home Health Care and Hopewell House Hos-pice of Portland, Oregon, for their conscientious care during the last few months.
A Memorial Service was held at the LDS Chapel in Tigard, Oregon on Saturday, Novem-ber 22 at 11:00 am.
The Funeral Service will be held at the LDS Chapel in Centerville, Utah (2110 N Main Street) on Saturday, November 29 at 11:00 am. A Viewing will precede the funeral at the same location from 9:45 until 10:45 am.

Funeral Service

Saturday November 29, 2014, 11:00 a.m.
Click for Map and Directions

The Funeral Service will be held at the LDS Chapel in Centerville, Utah (2110 N Main Street) on Saturday, November 29 at 11:00 am. A Viewing will precede the funeral at the same location from 9:45 until 10:45 am. Internment will be at the Bountiful City Cemetery. Internment will be at the Bountiful City Cemetery.