John U. Harris Jr.

1931 - 2017

John U. Harris, Jr., A long-time resident of Wayland and Weston, passed away on March 13, 2017. He is survived by his beloved wife Marie (Shepardson) and his children John and his wife Susan of Bedford MA, Dudley and his wife Hope of Chester NY, Deborah Hetherington and her husband Jason of Richmond VA, and eight grandchildren. He is also survived by his sisters Mia Blumenstock of Scarsdale NY, and Trudy Marvin and Susan Kelsey of Falmouth ME. Born in Hanover, NH on Nov 6, 1931, the son of the Rev erend John U. and Katrina (Sturges) Harris, he moved to the Boston area in 1939, attending The Dexter School and St. Marks School, and graduating in 1953 from Dartmouth College Cum Laude and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. After three years as a naval officer aboard the aircraft carriers USS Leyte and Intrepid, he entered the securities business. He became a principal of Harris, Upham & Co., IMF Services., Sanders, Harris & Co., and Reynders, Gray & Co; in 2006 he became a First Vice President of Winslow, Evans, & Crocker until his retirement in 2013. He was a New England Governor of The Investment Bankers Association of America, a Governor of The Boston Stock Exchange, and NASD Arbitrator, a Director of Towle Manufacturing Company and of The Down Town Club. In his early business years Mr. Harris conducted several seminars to educate beginning investors on the workings of security markets. He was a Direc- tor of The Boys & Girls Clubs of Bo ston for over fifty years, acting as Chairman and Executive Director for part of those years, and was a founding Director of Nativity Prep. He married Edith Willis of Winchester in 1960, and after her death in 1998 married Marie Shepardson of Weston. He was an active golfer, joining The Country Club in Brookline and moving his membership to The Weston Golf Club in 1968. He was a Director of the latter club for five years. He also was active in the paddle tennis program, and took great pleasure in that he was appointed a Fence Viewer for The Town of Weston for several years. When his children and grandchildren were young Mr. Harris sang folk songs to them and recorded many of his favorites. If you were to have asked Mr. Harris how he felt about his life, he would have given an enthusiastic thumbs up. A funeral service will be held at St. Peters Episcopal Church, 320 Boston Post Rd., Weston, on Saturday, March 18 at 11:00am. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made in his memory to The Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, Inc., Permanent Endowment Fund, 200 High Street 3rd Fl., Boston, MA 02110. Funeral arrangements by George F. Doherty & Sons Funeral Home, Wellesley.