Everett W. Harris

CHARLOTTE - Dr. Everett Wayne Harris died March 3, 2009, at the age of 74. The eldest son of Lucille (Elwood) Harris and Homer Harris, he was born in Morrisville, Vermont, September 16, 1934 and was raised on his family's hill farm in Wolcott. He went to one-room schoolhouses for his first eight grades. His first paid job was to build the fire and sweep before school began and in high school, he drove a milk route in the morning before class.

After graduating from Peoples Academy of Morrisville, he attended the University of Vermont, and received his B.S. in agricultural education in 1957. After college, he taught at Chelsea High School, Peoples Academy, and Lamoille Union Career Center and farmed and raised Christmas trees. He served as chairman of the Wolcott school board and on the Lamoille County Planning Commission.

He was instrumental in preserving the Fisher Covered Railroad Bridge and in founding Lamoille County Field Days. He led a very active young farmers' group.

After 10 years of teaching high school, he studied for his doctorate in vocational-technical education at the University of Illinois. Following five years as an assistant professor at Marshall University in West Virginia, he returned to his alma mater in 1978 as an associate professor in Occupational and Extension Education in the College of Agriculture.

In 2000, he retired from UVM as Professor Emeritus, Community Development and Applied Economics. Since then, he has worked for the Vermont Department of Education, Career and Technical Education as Interim State Consultant in agriculture and natural resources and State FFA (Future Farmers of America) Youth Organization Advisor.

He helped establish statewide employment projections for technical education programming. He has worked in an advisory role with career and technical centers all over Vermont and has served on national boards.

He was awarded an Honorary American Farmer Degree by the National FFA, a Distinguished Service Award by the National Alliance of Business and honored as an Outstanding Member of the Education Community by the Vermont Department of Education.

In 2007, the UVM College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and UVM Extension school honored him with the Sinclair Cup for his distinguished service and exemplary leadership. It recognized his career-long contribution to Vermont agriculture and his efforts to reposition Vermont's agricultural education for the future.

He served as president of the board of trustees for the Vermont FFA Foundation and was vice president, Learning for Life Programs, of the Green Mountain Council/Boy Scouts of America. He served on the board of the National FFA Organization.

He lived in Charlotte, Vermont, with his wife Kathleen McKinley Harris where they raised their daughters, Susannah and Elizabeth. He will be dearly missed by his wife and daughters, sons-in-law Bryan Dicker and Dan Bigman and his three grandchildren, Maxwell, Katherine and Samuel Dicker as well as his brothers Robert Harris of Wolcott and Dale Harris of Brandon.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, March 7, 2009, at 1 p.m. at the Trinity Episcopal Church, 5171 Shelburne Road, Shelburne, VT.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in his name to the following organizations which help youth:

FFA Foundation, c/o Alan Curler, 2900 North St, New Haven, VT 05472

Green Mountain Council/Boy Scouts of America, P.O. Box 557, Waterbury, VT 05676-0557

UVM College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, c/o Howard Lincoln, development officer, 411 Main St., Burlington, VT 05401.

View the guest book at www.rutlandherald.com/ obits.