Steven L. Harris

1949 - 2021

Steven Harris, 72, passed away peacefully on Saturday, November 6, 2021, of cancer. Steve was born July 20, 1949, in New York City. He lived the bulk of his childhood in Los Angeles with his parents, Bob and Viola, who were professional actors, and his younger sister, Sunny.

Steve then traded the mountains of California for the four seasons of the Midwest. He earned his bachelor's degree with high honors from the University of Chicago in 1970 and his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School, where he was President of the Law Students Association, in 1973.

Following a clerkship in the Illinois Appellate Court and a stint in private practice in Chicago, Steve began his long and distinguished career in legal academia. As a professor at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit, he met a legal writing instructor, Barbara, who would become his wife. Steve then served on the faculties of the University of Illinois College of Law for 12 years and Chicago-Kent College of Law for 25 years, specializing in secured transactions, bankruptcy, contracts, and other areas of commercial law. He was a brilliant legal scholar who educated and mentored thousands of future lawyers. Steve had a special passion for teaching American law to lawyers and judges abroad in China, Thailand, Colombia, and many European countries.

Steve also was a leader in law reform efforts. The American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers honored Steve with its Distinguished Service Award in 2002 for his work revising Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code and its Homer Kripke Achievement Award in 2021 in recognition of his career of exceptional dedication to the improvement of commercial finance law and practice. Steve was an elected member of the American Law Institute and became a life member in 2011.

Steve was devoted to his family. He took great pride in raising two fine children, Jacob and Molly, and actively supported their every personal and professional endeavor. Steve's interests were varied and deep. He loved being in nature, whether climbing mountains in Africa or hiking in Wisconsin, and he shared his excitement for the outdoors on regular trips with family and friends. Steve was a natural musician who would sit down at the piano and entertain a crowd for hours on end. He and Barbara attended the symphony and the opera for decades, often inviting family, friends, and colleagues to share the experience.

Steve was an avid baseball fan who could regularly be found enjoying an afternoon or evening at the ballpark on the South Side with Barbara and their friends. He was an active participant in the Jewish community who served on countless boards and enthusiastically engaged his family in Jewish ritual and culture. Steve loved to travel overseas and learn about new people and places, and he and Barbara explored parts of several continents together. He constantly craved Indian food, which he enjoyed in dozens of countries and most states in the U.S. Steve will be remembered by family and friends for his intellect, his kindness, his generosity, his integrity, and his wit.

Steve was preceded in death by his parents, Robert H. Harris and Viola Harris. He is survived by his wife of 36 years, Barbara Bruno; his children, Jacob (Taylor) and Molly; his sister, Sunny (Douglas) Rome; his sisters- and brothers-in-law, Mary and Jeff Ehret and Donna Kase and Curt Paloumpis; and many nieces and nephews.

Donations may be made to Feeding America, https://www.feedingamerica.org/, The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, https://natureisrael.org/, or the Negaunee Music Institute of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, https://cso.org/education-community/negaunee-music-institute/. Info: Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home, 847-256-5700.