Featured Author

Edwin N. Harris

1918 - 2002

by

Bill Treichler

Index of stories by Ed Harris in the Crooked Lake Review

See also Ed Harris: Thanks for the Memoirs by Bill Kauffman

Edwin Harris was born January 29, 1918, on a Schuyler County farm near the village of Dundee, New York, and lived there his first 16 years. His parents were George and Clara Dilliston Harris. He graduated from Dundee High School in 1935 and attended Rochester Business Institute, 1936-1937.

On September 2, 1939, he married Esther E. Weichenthal of Penn Yan. They settled in the Rochester area. During the 1950s Mr. Harris was a choir member at Hope Lutheran Church for 10 years, and president of the congregation for two terms. In 1957 he was a performing chorus member in Rochester's "Opera Under the Stars" production of Die Fledermaus.

Ed became the office manager and accountant for Fred Hines, Excavating Contractor, in Rochester in 1939. From 1943 to 1946 he was a crane operator at Dispatch Shops, Inc. in East Rochester. Ed was general foreman for L. B. Finewood of Rochester from 1946 until 1956 when he became manager of I. M. Ludington's Sons, Inc. Ready Mix Concrete Co. In 1962, he became branch manager of Ken Mar Co. and continued managing operations in central New York for the Construction Products Division of W. R. Grace & Company after Ken Mar was acquired by Grace in 1966. He retired in April, 1980. In 1974-75 he served as President of The Western New York Chapter of the American Concrete Institute. In 1980 he received the Dan Sutter Award for "outstanding contributions to the concrete industry."

After retirement Ed wrote the genealogies of six related families. He was a member of the Schuyler County Historical Society and wrote a number of Schuyler County stories for the society's quarterly journal in 1987-88. In 1991 he completed Harpending's Corners, (101,000 words) a memoir, many segments of which appeared in The Crooked Lake Review. His stories and articles appeared in issues 17 through 55, 59, 60, 66, 73, 78, and 84. Ed Harris also suggested that the writer contributors to the CLR get together for discussion and he was present for the first luncheon at the Avon Inn and at many subsequent gatherings. A special tribute, Ed Harris: Thanks for the Memoirs written by Bill Kauffman was published in the 100th issue of The Crooked Lake Review.

Ed Harris suffered a debilitating stroke on April 24, 1995. After hospital physical therapy, he resided at The Homestead in Penn Yan. He died February 14, following a massive stroke the day before. Ed is survived by his wife, Esther; in Penn Yan; son, Roger (Amanda) Harris of Keuka Park; daughter, Linda (Richard) Manley of Rochester; grandchildren, Brett (Joann) VanDuser, Eric Harris, Scott (Katie) VanDuser; Aaron Harris and Deborah (Matt) Vogel; four great-grandchildren: Brett M. VanDuser, Rachel VanDuser, Bryce Vogel and Madeline Vogel; and brother John (Jean) Harris of Lisbon, Maine.

Index of stories by Ed Harris in the Crooked Lake Review

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