WELFORD HARRIS

HARRIS, Welford Lee "Pete," 85, went to be with our Lord and Savior Monday, May 9, 2011. He was born August 14, 1925 at Gouldin, Hanover County, Virginia. He was the son of the late Irving Edgeworth Harris and Carrie Lee Brooks Harris. After his father died in 1936, his family moved to Richmond, Virginia, where he remained a lifelong resident. After graduating from Thomas Jefferson High School, he entered the Army Air Corps in 1943 and served his country with distinction in the Asiatic Pacific Theater of WWII until May 1946. He married the love of his life, Joyce Sweet Harris, on December 22, 1946, and enjoyed her daily company for 63 years until her passing last August 28, 2010. After graduating from the University of Richmond, he became a Certified Public Accountant and co-founded the Harris and Demonbreun CPA firm which today is known as Harris, Hardy and Johnstone, P.C. In addition to his parents and wife, he was predeceased by his brothers, Elton C. Harris, Henry E. Harris and Harold R. Harris; and his sister, Dorothy H. Hall. He is survived by his sister, Agnes H. Elmore; three sons, Welford Lee Harris Jr. (Jane), Thomas Bradley Harris (Holly) and Timothy Reid Harris (Molly). He is also survived by a dozen Harris grandchildren of whom he was so proud: Heather, Samuel (Melissa), Lee, Scott, Grace, Benjamin, Hannah, Matthew, Rachel, Reid, Virginia and Tucker. He also leaves behind for now, two brothers-in-law, Richard Sweet ("Pat") and Fleming Eubank ("Flip"); two sisters-in-law, Shirley Harris and Gladys Eubank; and his lifelong friend, architect Haigh Jamgochian. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, May 11, from 5 to 7 p.m. at the West Chapel of the Bennett Funeral Home, 11020 W. Broad Street, Glen Allen, Va. 23060, where a funeral service will be conducted on Thursday, May 12, at 1 p.m. Interment private. He preferred red roses and requested that memorial contributions be made to the Friends of Barnabas Foundation, P.O. Box 4804, Midlothian, Va. 23112.


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.