Henry Pharris

Henry Brown "Duge" Pharris 1918 - 2011 Henry Brown "Duge" Pharris died on April 12, 2011, one week short of his 93rd birthday. He was born on April 19, 1918, on a farm five miles south of Jerome. He was the second of the six children of Guy K. Pharris and Margaret (Adams) Pharris. At his birth, Guy called him a "little Dugan" and the nickname Duge stuck for the rest of his life. Duge's early life was spent on the farm in Jerome's Canyonside district. When Duge was fourteen, his father died unexpectedly, leaving Margaret at the depths of the Great Depression with no income and six children to raise. With his brothers Duge farmed and did odd jobs, and on the death of his grandfather Adams, Duge took over his grandfather's beekeeping business. When he graduated from Jerome High School in 1936, he sold the bees and raised enough money for one semester of college at the University of Idaho. Later he attended business college in Salt Lake City, studying to be a bookkeeper and accountant. During the early part of World War II, Duge was a civilian contract employee of the Navy. On Pearl Harbor Day, he was working at Midway Island. During the battle of Midway in 1942, he was working at Pearl Harbor. Expecting to be drafted, Duge eventually enlisted in the Army, where he hoped to join the Air Corps. At first he was unsuccessful, but eventually he was transferred into the Air program. One of his training programs was at the University of North Dakota in the spring of 1944, where he met Grace Louise Schultz, who was in her senior year of college. Duge and Grace were married at Hondo Air Force Base in Texas on June 10, 1944, a short time before he was shipped to Europe for active duty. Duge was a bomber navigator in the war, stationed at Bari, Italy. On his first mission, his plane was shot down over Montenegro. Duge and his crewmates were smuggled through German lines by the Yugoslav partisans and flown back to Italy after 12 days missing in action. For the remainder of the war, he flew bombing missions to northern Italy, Austria, and other German-occupied areas. When the war ended in 1945, Duge and Grace moved back to Jerome, and he took a job as bookkeeper at Tingwalls department store. Through a series of circumstances, he eventually found himself managing the whole store, and taught himself the various aspects of the dry goods business. During these years, Duge and Grace raised their three children and participated actively in local affairs. In the 1970's, Duge and Grace purchased the store from the Tingwall estate and operated it as Pharrises department store. In 1985, they sold off the merchandise, leased out the store building, and retired. Unfortunately, their "golden years" together were brief, as Grace died of cancer in 1987. After a lonely time, Duge remarried in 1989, to Lula Frank Harrington, and moved into Lou's home in Twin Falls. Duge and Lou traveled extensively, played golf, and spent several winters at Queen Valley, Arizona, a retirement community that included a number of "Idaho snowbirds." As president of the community association, Duge was the unofficial "mayor" of Queen Valley for a year or two. Lou died in 2002, and Duge accepted an invitation to share the home of his sister, Betty Pharris, in Boise. Duge plunged into life in a new community with characteristic vigor, becoming active in church and community affairs. Up to the last few weeks of his life, he served as a greeter in church, volunteered to assist new immigrants with their English language skills, and walked the dog two miles every day. Duge was a member of the Jerome Presbyterian Church for fifty years, serving as parish clerk, deacon, and elder. In Boise, he was an active member of Covenant Presbyterian Church. At various times he was a member of the Jerome Kiwanis Club, the Rotary Club, and the Chamber of Commerce. He served on the planning commission and the Jerome City Council, and served for many years on the board of St. Benedict's Hospital in Jerome. Duge was preceded in death by his parents, by his two wives, Grace and Lou, and by his brothers Harold, John, and Carl Pharris. He is survived by his three children: James Pharris (Rebecca) of Olympia, Washington; Margaret Barry (Ronald) of Lake Oswego, Oregon; and Kristen Erway (Bruce) of Alameda, California; by his sister BJ Pharris of Boise and his brother Earl Pharris (Hazel) of Cozad, Nebraska and his sister-in-law Virginia Pharris of Hazelton; by his grandchildren: Nicholas Pharris, Ingrid Pharris Goebel (Tim), Mark Pharris, Elizabeth Barry, Monica Barry, and Anna Erway; and by many loving nephews, nieces, cousins, and dear friends. There will be a graveside inurnment for Duge at the Jerome Cemetery at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 16, 2011. A memorial service will be held at Covenant Presbyterian Church, 4848 N. Five Mile Rd. in Boise at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 17, 2011. Please visit Duge's memorial webpage online at www.CloverdaleFuneralHome.com.