Harris A. Simpson

Harris Simpson was born in Philomath, Georgia on April 14, 1934 to William Harris Simpson and Florence Arnold Simpson. His family moved to Monroe, Georgia and later to Athens, Georgia. Harris started college at UGA at the age of 16. After graduating with a business degree, he joined the Navy as a Supply Officer for four years before going back to college, to Georgia Tech, for an engineering degree. He worked for Watts and Browning before joining Cousins Properties. Later, he started a development company with Ben Sellman and they took over troubled subdivisions for lenders, including Main Street in Dekalb County and Summit Chase in Loganville. He was an avid outdoorsman and especially enjoyed the bobwhite quail. Later in life, he perfected the quail dog with Pepper and Jenny, his beloved bird dogs. He was married twice. His first marriage, to Suzanna Warren Bozarth, produced three children, Casey, Bo and James, who he loved. He and Sue had a horse farm (Quail Rise Farm) where they bred and raised Arabian horses. His second marriage, to Rita Sharp Lawhorn, led him into competitive bicycling and various travels in the U.S. and abroad. As a bicyclist, he was nationally ranked in his age group and he participated in many group programs. He was especially proud of the "Fools on Wheels", where he was on the support team for Jim Kennedy and friends in their record setting ride across America (six days, beating the next closest team by more than 17 hours). Harris had a third partner in life, Prin Gunn, who he was with for thirteen years. Prin suffered from many health challenges and Harris cared for her for many years and they enjoyed many fine meals (He was an accomplished cook) and outings together, especially to see her grandson play football in Athens. Harris had many dear friends that enjoyed hunting and fishing and his photo albums are full of memories of their outings afield, always smiling, laughing and basking in God's great outdoors. In his later years, Harris was especially thankful for Alfred Sawyer, his Pastor at Christ Church Atlanta, as well as the dear church family there. He lived for many years at Cathedral Tower, where he made friends with everyone and enjoyed being close to the "Buckhead Boys" (his best friends). In his last years, he stayed at Chestnut Ridge Nursing and Rehabilitation Home, where his three children visited him weekly and made his time there very happy and comfortable. He is survived by his three children, Casey, Bo and James, as well as seven grandchildren and two great grandchildren.
A Memorial Service will be held at Flanigan Funeral Home in Buford Georgia on November 9th at 2 pm, visitation at pm.