Robert Myer Harris

La Quinta - Bob Harris passed away peacefully at the age of 89 in his home in La Quinta, California.

The second oldest of 5 siblings, Bob was born in Dryden, Ontario on December 15, 1935 to Reginald and Evelyn Harris. Reginald was a Pharmacist who owned and operated the Harris Drug Store in Dryden. He was a veteran who served in the Canadian Armed Forces during WWII, loved to bet on the ponies, and was a very active Freemason. Evelyn loved music and often you would find her at the piano playing and singing.

Bob was preceded in death by his daughter Alison McMahan, sister Jeanne Calwell, brother Hugh Harris, and grandson Andrew Thomas.

Bob's Childhood and High School Years

Bob was a great big brother and had the admiration of all his siblings. He graduated HS in 1955 and immediately enlisted in the Canadian armed forces for a brief stint until they realized Bob, at 17, was underage. At that point, he heard there were Universities giving scholarships to hockey players and, like any red-blooded Canadian, he was a hockey player. So, he packed up his gear and made his way to the University of North Dakota.

Bob's University Years

At UND, Bob enrolled in the Geological Engineering Program and joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He walked on to the Men's hockey Team. At the time, student athletes were required to play on the Freshman team their first year at University, but he quickly moved to Varsity his sophomore year.

Affectionately called "Bird Dog," Bob had great memories with his former teammates including UND All-American Bill Steenson. Perhaps most colorful though were the stories of his shenanigans with his hard charging best buddy Trucker Williams. Following the completion of Dad's sophomore year, it was clear he needed to step away from the hockey team to focus on his on academic success. To support himself through school, He took a job at a local mortuary where he lived in the basement while completing his degree.

Bob met Louise Claire Peterson three months prior to graduation. She grew up in Jamestown, North Dakota, attended Jamestown High School (Class of 1955), where she was prom queen her senior year, and then went on to the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. She graduated UND in 1960 with an RN in nursing. Louise provided the motivation necessary to help Bob push through the completion of his degree and they were married three months later.

Bob was recognized by the University of North Dakota with its highest honor, the Sioux Award. He was honored by the UND Hockey Program with entry into the Hockey Hall of Fame and was recognized by the UND School of Engineering and Mines with their Academy Award.

Early Employment and a Growing Family

During his senior year at UND, Bob completed a three month remote program in the mountains of Newfoundland. On a train ride back to North Dakota, he met a gentleman who led the sales team for Fischer & Porter a well-known process instrumentation company in Canada. He told Bob to give him a call after he graduated. He did and ended up landing his first post-graduation job. He worked his way into a Sales Management position early on, where he hired one of his lifelong friends Larry Karlson. Bob and Larry both moved on from Fischer & Porter in 1968 to join Electronics & Associated, another process controls company based in Toronto.

In 1961, Louise gave birth to Alison and Tracey, fraternal twin daughters. New Years Day 1966 brought the second set of fraternal twins as Louise gave birth to Robert and Lisa.

Change came unexpectedly in 1975, Electronics & Associated failed and Bob found himself back on the job market. He reached out to a contact in the paper industry in the Pacific Northwest and landed a job with Wright Schuchart Harbor (WSH), an industrial construction firm in Seattle. Bob and Louise sold their home in Oakville, Ontario and moved the family to Edmonds, Washington. He spent less than a year in his new role with WSH before he was selected by the Schuchart family to start an engineering firm, Schuchart & Associates, along with his colleague Ed Albaugh.

Schuchart & Associates and The Harris Group

Over the next 15 years, Bob and the Schuchart & Associates leadership developed the company into one of the premier Pacific Northwest-based process engineering and design firms. With core clients like Boeing, Weyerhaeuser, PACCAR, and Hewlett Packard along with refining work in Alaska, they experienced rapid growth on the back of an excellent reputation. In 1989, Schuchart & Associates was approached by an owner to perform a large engineering project for a paper mill in northern California. The owner would not award the project to an engineering firm with "Schuchart" in the name due to some negative experience with WSH. In order to resolve the issue and win the work, the name of the firm was changed to The Harris Group.

Bob stayed heavily engaged as President and CEO of The Harris Group (HGI) through 2010, overseeing expansion in Portland, Wisconsin, Denver, South Carolina, and Russia.

Bob was especially excited about HGI's work in Russia. He very much enjoyed his trips to St. Petersburg, where HGI had an office. He also fondly remembered traveling to Irkutsk when the company had a major environmentally-driven project on the shores of Lake Baikal. He would inevitably return home from each trip with Russian art, vodka, and caviar.

La Quinta, Fishing, and Travel

In 1989, Bob and Louise purchased their first home in La Quinta. Louise immediately started to winter in the desert while Bob travelled. La Quinta quickly became a gathering point for the entire Harris family, with Bob and Louise hosting, and sponsoring, countless family adventures for all their children and grandchildren including a treasured annual grandkids only trip.

Bob loved to fish. He first learned the sport from his colleague and friend, Bill Hytinen, on the bar on Whidbey Island, a short ride boat ride from Edmonds. He was immediately all in, purchasing his first boat, a 24' Sea Ray, in 1980. In 1989, Bob and Louise purchased a new home on Lake Washington and, the following year, Bob purchased a new 30' Tollycraft. Both were his pride and joy.

Bob and Louise loved to travel together for business and pleasure. They travelled to China, Japan, Africa, Russia, Australia, and all over Europe. Those that had the opportunity to be entertained at their home in Seattle will attest to the fact the décor was heavily influenced by their trips to Japan and Russia. Following a big trip to Africa, they returned to La Quinta and redecorated their entire home in African motif including wallpapering all walls and ceilings, custom animal art of the Big 5, and a multitude of other pieces inspired by their time on the savannah.

Philanthropist and Mentor

In addition to his love and support of his own family, Bob was a father figure, mentor, and friend to countless employees, friends, and extended family. Always willing to help, Bob frequently helped support them or their children and siblings in purchasing a first home or providing other assistance in times of need.

The Harris Group also established an endowed scholarship in the name of Bob and Louise Harris to support students at the University of Washington who are pursuing a career in engineering in service of the pulp and paper industry.

Bob is survived by his wife Louise Harris, his 3 children, Tracey (Dan), Rob (Marnie) and Lisa (Tim), his sister Rose Marie Miller, his brother Gordon, nephews (Paul Ernest, Scott Harris, Mark Colwell) and nieces (Suzanne Hess, Jacqui Blowes, Kelly Hope, Michelle Schroeder, Kristyna Harris, Heather Zigelstein). He's very proud of his 6 grandchildren, Robbie Thomas, Ashley McMahan, Sasha Thomas, Alec Harris, Brandon Jensen, Sam Harris, Hadley Harris and multiple great grandchildren.

Bob's Celebration of Life will be held at 2:00 PM on January 10th at the Washington Athletic Club in Seattle.