Paul Charles Harris

PAUL CHARLES HARRIS Jul. 14, 1931 – Nov. 16, 2025
Paul Charles Harris, 94, beloved husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather, passed away on Sunday, November 16, 2025, in Granbury, Texas.
Paul was born July 14, 1931, in Globe, Arizona to Perry Calvin Harris and Maybell Laird. He was raised on a small ranch outside of Globe in a house built atop a mesa about a mile from the highway; then later lived with his older brother in Los Angeles, California during his last year in high school. He approached every challenge in accordance with his strong belief in God, and was always very active in the Church, serving as a Church Deacon in his later years. In 1949, while traveling from California to Texas to attend a Church association meeting with an uncle who was a preacher, he first met his future wife. In 1950, Paul joined the Air Force, completed electronics school at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, and was then stationed at Carswell Air Force Base in Ft. Worth, Texas. He married Donna Waynell McCarty on August 11, 1951, in Crosbyton, Texas and they resided in Ft. Worth until Paul was sent to serve as Radio Repairman, Airborne Equipment in the Korean war where he received several Service Medals. In 1954 he was honorably discharged and returned to civilian life. He worked for Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company as an electronics engineer and began a 33-year long career with the company. His life was filled with many adventures as he and Waynell started their family and lived in Hobbs, then Artesia, New Mexico. In 1964, the family moved overseas and spent the next 20 years in Libya, New Zealand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Scotland before coming to Brandon, Mississippi in 1984, then finally retiring and settling in Granbury's DeCordova Bend Estates in 1990. Paul loved to travel and enjoyed golfing and playing bridge with the many dear friends he made everywhere he went. He cherished and valued his family and friends, and led by example, teaching the importance of love, kindness, and laughter. Paul loved all types of music, but as a young father, taught his children to sing and harmonize, and regularly took them to gospel concerts and Sunday-afternoon singings at the Church. After retiring, Paul joined the Texas Millionaires, a men's a cappella barbershop chorus based in Ft. Worth, and performed with them for a number of years, both locally and at national competitions.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 73 years, parents, brothers; James Washington Harris, and John Calvin Harris, sisters; Velma Cona Harris, Mary Harris, Julia Florine Locke, and Martha Ann MacDonald, and son, John Michael Harris.
Paul is survived by his daughter Sherry Whitehurst and husband Tom; two sons, Greg Harris and his wife Lesa, and Scott Harris and his wife Valerie; daughter-in-law Lyn Harris; 14 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren. His smile and dry sense of humor will be deeply missed, but even though his earthly journey is over, his legacy will continue through all who knew and loved him.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am on Thursday, November 20, 2025, at Old School Primitive Baptist Church, 1075 North Little School Road, Kennedale, Texas 76060. Family and friends are invited to come to the Church at 10:00 am for visitation and stay for lunch afterwards. Private burial at the Dallas Fort Worth National Cemetery will be at a later date.