Edwin Donald Harris

Edwin Donald Harris Edwin passed from this life to the next while at home on November 22, 2007 following a short illness. He was able to be home with his family for Thanksgiving and to offer the dinner prayer of thanks for the many blessings of this life. Edwin Harris was born in Center, Texas on June 22, 1921, the oldest child of Ward and Pearl Harris. He was a lifelong learner, an inventor, and an entrepreneur. His formal education included White Creek School and Three Rivers High School. Following high school, he worked in the Conservation Corps (CC) prior to joining the service in 1943. He served in both the Air Force during World War II including in Europe. He was discharged following the war and attended welding school before beginning a long and distinguished work career as a pipeline welder and then as the owner and proprietor of Harris Welding and Fabrication for more than fifty years. He retired in 2005 at age 84 and was able to do some traveling with his wife. Edwin Harris met Ruby Harris, the love of his life, in 1947 while he was working as a welder in the Valley and they married in Donna, Texas on February 1, 1948. Ed and Ruby have three sons, Edwin Donald Harris Jr. (Don), Stanley Wayne Harris and Marvin Clifton Harris. It is impossible to take the measure of such a good man in a few short words. He is remembered as a man with a robust work ethic but always had time for his family and his church. He was the older brother that everyone looked up to. He was the father who exemplified honesty, integrity and hard work. He was a member of First Baptist Church Mathis and was the deacon and Sunday School teacher who could be counted on every Sunday. He was a man who loved to read, especially history, and was known in the family as a teller of stories. He enjoyed playing dominoes, especially 42, and there wasn't a puzzle he couldn't solve. He was practical and thrifty and generous, all at the same time. He was our "Pop". He was preceded in death by his parents, by his brothers Lendsy Harris and Ecil Harris, by several nieces and nephews. He is survived by his wife: of 59 years Ruby Harris, son Don and daughter-in-law Helen, son Stanley and daughter-in-law Debra, son Marvin and daughter-in-law Glenna; grandsons Nathaniel Ward Harris and Daniel Shayne Harris; granddaughters Kathleen Harris, Annelise Harris, Beth Harris, and Kristin Harris Sandlin and her husband Dustin; brothers Edgle Harris and Weldon Harris and their families; sisters Gwendolyn Branstetter, Marbel Lindsay, Bernardene Heyn, and Yvonne Morin and their families; sisters-in-law Treva Harris and Corrine Harris and numerous nieces and nephews. Services will include visitation on Sunday evening, November 25, 2007 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Dobie Funeral Home in Mathis; services 11:00 a.m. Monday morning at First Baptist Church in Mathis, Texas and 2:30 p.m. graveside services Monday at the family cemetery White Creek Cemetery on County Road 111. Pallbearers include Nathan Harris, Daniel Harris, Chantz Curtts, Dustin Sandlin, Rodney Harris, Darrell Spieckermann, Andy Anderson, and George Harris. Honorary pallbearers are the deacons of First Baptist Church, Mathis. Memorials may be made to South Texas Children's Home or First Baptist Church, Mathis. DOBIE FUNERAL HOUSE 121 N. Duval Mathis, Texas 78368 361-547-3224