Dr. H. Lee Harris of Canyon City died March 25, 2006, at his home on Canyon Creek. He was 89.

A celebration of Dr. Harris’s life will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 9 at his home on Canyon Creek. Memorial contributions may be made to the John Day Rural Fire District, or to your cause of choice through Driskill Memorial Chapel.

Born July 1, 1916, in Raceland, Kentucky, Dr. Harris was the eldest of six sons of Harry Harris of Old Town, Kentucky and Ethel Savage Harris of Wurtland, Kentucky.

As a youngster, Dr. Harris delivered newspapers to help support his family. Later he worked for the family milk plant delivering milk. In 1937 he entered Union College, Barbourville, Kentucky, to study pre-med. Two years later he continued his studies at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, before enlisting in the U.S. Army at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, in 1940. He served as X-ray technician and repairman at Brooke General Hospital.

Dr. Harris entered Officer’s Candidate School in 1942 at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1943 to accept assignment to active duty in the Air Force, assigned to Kelly Field, and then to Stinson Field in San Antonio, Texas.

A two-month journey by ship, late in 1943, took Dr. Harris to India to serve in the China-Burma-India Theater, attached to the Bengal Air Depot, the 1715th and then the 2005th Ordnance Maintenance Companies. His many enriching experiences trekking in the Himalayas and absorbing the culture of the local people influenced the remainder of his life. After twenty-four months in CBI, he returned to San Antonio and was subsequently appointed to the Officers’ Reserve Corp, Army Air Corp. He served as acting medical officer for the 403rd Medical Group, 403rd Troop Carrier Wing, Portland Air Base, Oregon. Dr. Harris was honorably discharged from the Army Air Force in April 1953.

In 1946, while in the reserves, Dr. Harris entered the University of Oregon, Eugene, to continue pre-med studies. He worked as an x-ray and EKG technician at the Eugene Hospital and Clinic. In August that year he married Dorothy E. Bass of Halsey, Oregon. They had two children, Robert Lee and Janet Christine.

Following the completion of his undergraduate degree, Dr. Harris entered the University of Oregon Medical School, Portland, graduating in 1951 with a Doctor of Medicine. He entered a one year rotating internship at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, Santa Barbara, California, and became licensed in 1952 to practice medicine in California and Oregon.

His first private practice began in 1952, with Dr. L. H. Imboden in Drain, Oregon. A year later he built his state-of-the-art clinic in Junction City, where he moved his young family and enjoyed sixteen years of a very rewarding practice in a community he dearly loved. In 1968, he moved his practice to the Westmoreland Clinic in Eugene.

Dr. Harris married Eva Malloch of Riverside, Calif., in December, 1970. They moved to Portland, where Dr. Harris completed a one-year surgical residency at Providence Hospital before returning to Eugene for full-time emergency room practice at Sacred Heart Hospital. In January 1975, he and Eva moved to Canyon City, to open a new rural practice. Dr. Harris was recognized by the American Academy of Family Physicians for his years of participation as an active clinical instructor in Family Practice. Students came to work with him through the Oregon Health Sciences University from as far away as Maine and lived in the Harris’s home during their stay, adding great levity to life in the country.

Dr. Harris moved his practice to his home on Canyon Creek in the summer of 1980 and also started a mobile medical clinic which followed a 135-mile route through the mountains every Monday for two years delivering medical care to six communities.

During his years of medical practice, Dr. Harris was an FAA medical examiner for pilots in the Northwest. He was a lifetime member of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Emergency Physicians. Dr. Harris retired from the practice of medicine in June 1990.

Dr. Harris was preceded in death by his father and mother, and his brother Paul.

Dr. Harris is survived by his wife, Eva; son Robert Harris and his wife Terri of Woodland Hills, Calif.; daughter Janet Weisman and her husband Jim of Seattle, Wash.; grandson Jerad Harris of Woodland Hills, Calif.; brothers and family Joshua Harris and Loise of Cumberland, Md.; Jacob Harris and Judy of Bedford, Pa.; Charles Harris and Marie of Middleburg, Fla.; Chester Harris and Pepper of Wurtland, Ky.; nieces, nephews and cousins Kimberly Harris of Tallahassee, Fla.; Pamela Harris Ragan of Lexington, N.C.; Joan Malloch of Los Angeles, Calif.; James Taylor of New York, N.Y.; Robert Taylor of London, Englan; Michael Shuken of Vacaville, Calif.; John Mylne of Arcata, Calif.; and dear friends Fred Webking of Eugene; and Bob Doerr of Junction City, and many, many more loving family and friends.

Dr. Harris was a skier, hiker, sailplane pilot, power pilot, sand sailor, deep water sailor, beekeeper and winemaker. He enjoyed horses, farming and pretty girls. Dr. Harris especially enjoyed his rural medical practices and the enduring friendships they brought him. He lived his life with zest and imagination. He loved music and played his tuba during the Scandinavian Festivals in Junction City as well as with the University of Kentucky, once at the finish line of the Kentucky Derby. With his wife Eva, Dr. Harris kayaked the rivers of Oregon, flew and soared the mountains, valleys and plains of the US. His twin engine airplane was his joy as well as his means of transporting patients to larger medical facilities at a time when there were no other convenient medical air services. Dr. Harris was a commissioned Kentucky Colonel.

Dr. Harris especially adored and admired his grandson, Jerad. He loved all the youngsters who spent summers and winters at his home. He was a hard task master but they kept returning.