Lawrence H. Harris

Lawrence Holiday Harris, Ph. D., born October 9, 1920, Baptist layman, retired American diplomat, university professor, Army officer, recent resident of Roswell for 5 years and previous resident of Savannah, Georgia for 34 years, died peacefully at home surrounded by his family, on July 2, 2010. Lawrence Harris was born in 1920 at Kaifeng, Honan Province, North China to Southern Baptist missionaries Dr. Hendon Mason Harris and Florence Powell Harris of Clinton, Mississippi. He returned to China in 1936 and attended Kuling American School for one year and completed his high school education at Kikungshan American School, affiliated with the Lutheran Missions. The Japanese invasion of China caused the American School to move in 1938 to a hospital on the tiny island of Cheung Chau, British Colony of Hong Kong. Harris received his BA in History from Baylor University, Waco, Texas; MA in European History from the University of California, Berkeley; and Ph. D. in Political Science from the University of Santo Tomas, Manila. His teaching career included UC Berkeley; Contra Costa Junior College, Bay Area; Apprentice School, U.S. Navy, Alameda, California; World Campus Afloat; University of Santo Tomas, Manila; retired as Director of International Studies and Professor of History and Political Science for 19 years at Savannah State University, Savannah, Georgia. The call to service in World War II with the 68TH Infantry Battalion, 14th Armored Division, interrupted his studies in Law at Baylor University. His unit landed in Southern France and fought in the Maritime Alps, the Saar Basin, the Ruhr, Hatten and Rittershoffen, and Nuremberg. In the bitterest German winter in 50 years, his unit was part of General Patton’s rescue operation of troops trapped at Bastogne, during the Battle of the Bulge. He was awarded among other medals, the Combat Infantry Badge and the Bronze Star Medal. At the outset of the Korean War in 1950, Harris was recalled to the 1002 Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment and served with a mixed British-American Brigade at Trieste, Italy. After attending military schools at Fort Holabird, Maryland; Fort Riley, Kansas; Army Language School, California; Civil Affairs School, Augusta, Georgia; he retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, US Army. In 1954, Dr. Harris was recruited by the State Department as its Education Officer for the Refugee Relief Program operating in Italy. After three years of service in Genoa and Rome, he was screened into the State Department as a career officer. He performed as Intelligence Research Officer specializing in Italian and Asian Affairs, and later, as American Consul in Hong Kong and in Manila. Dr. Harris was a devoted Christian lay leader, serving various Baptist churches as Sunday School teacher, Deacon, Moderator. He helped found Calvary Hill Baptist Church, Fairfax, Virginia. His epic literary work was a 794-page definitive volume completed on his 80th birthday: The Origins and Growth of Baptist Faith. Twenty Baptist Trailblazers in World History. In 2005, he completed the thumbnail history of the Roswell First Baptist Church: “The Stirring Saga of the First Baptist Church of Roswell, Georgia.” Always involved in public affairs, Harris, while living in Savannah, Georgia, became an activist for tax reform and was elected as President of the Citizens Tax Commission. In 1997-1998, he was President of the Savannah Chapter of The Retired Officers Association, and in 1999-2000, he was Commander of the Savannah Chapter of the Military Order of the World Wars. In 2007, Harris founded the Christian Military Fraternity to foster comradeship amongst military personnel and their surviving spouses and to provide assistance to the youth undertaking ROTC training. Harris is survived by his wife Thelma Harris, children Lawrence II, John, Susan Hayes, David, Judith Johnston, Ronald, Gerald, Larissa Pearce; sons- and daughters-in law, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. A celebration of Lawrence Harris’s life and achievements will be held at the Roswell First Baptist Church, 710 Mimosa Blvd, on Thursday, July 8: 10:00 to 10:45 – greet the family, 11:00 to 12:00 – service, followed by a reception for family members, close friends, and out-of-town attendees. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Christian Military Fraternity Scholarship Fund, c/o Roswell First Baptist Church will be appreciated. Northside Chapel Funeral Directors & Crematory, Roswell GA 770-645-1414. www.northsidechapel.com

Lawrence H. Harris

October 9, 1920 - July 2, 2010