Obituary of John R. Harris

John Harris was born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in Hollis, Queens and then in Valley Stream, NY. He is survived by James Harris (brother) and Jacqueline McHugh (twin sister). He is also survived by Elliot Harris (nephew), Joshua Harris (nephew), Sarah Venturini (niece), Kimberly Wolfenzon (niece), Bethany Harris (niece), Eamon McHugh (nephew), Heather McHugh (niece), Liam McHugh (nephew) and many more great-nieces and great-nephews.

He went to the College of Aviation (2 yr) and learned how to repair airplanes. He joined the Army before his number came up - wanting to serve his country.  The  Army recognized his knowledge of aircrafts and utilized it.  After that, he repaired helicopters - BUT -  that meant he would have to be in the helicopter just in case it needed to be fixed.  He also helped the crew bring back our fallen heroes…can’t leave them behind.  He did this for six years. One Brave Man.

When he left the Army, he went to work for Grumman on Long Island.  When Grumman closed some years later, they offered him a job in Lake Charles, LA. He accepted the job at Grumman and found a sailing yacht club - the  Lake Charles Hatch Club, a place where he could teach children how to sail. He did this for years. Unfortunately, Mother Nature took over and the hurricanes did so much damage to Lake Charles, it took years to rebuild the club.  By that time, John had fallen to Parkinson’s Disease - slowly at first then over the next four years it would take a turn for the worse. His sister came down many times to help, but the disease progressed.  The decision  to move him back to New York to his family was a difficult, but necessary one. She sold his home in one day and was happy to get that responsibility off John's shoulders.

He spent his last months and days in a nursing home in East Meadow.The caregivers were great and made sure he was getting everything he needed. Then he got so bad that we had to let him go to God.  We are happy that his suffering is over.

Mass of Christian Burial 11:15 am Friday, February 9 at the Church of St. Aidan in Williston Park. Visitation is 2-4 pm & 7-9 pm,Thursday, February 8 at Weigand Bros Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, please donate in his memory to the WOUNDED WARRIORS PROJECT.

www.https://support.woundedwarriorproject.org